Legendary LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman, who transformed the Tigers into a national powerhouse and later worked as the school's athletic director, died early Friday morning, the school announced. Bertman was 88.
After taking over LSU's baseball program in 1984, Bertman guided the Tigers to the Men's College World Series 11 times, winning national championships in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000.
During his tenure, the Tigers won seven SEC titles and had an 870-330-3 record. His teams won more than 75% of their MCWS games, the highest winning percentage in NCAA history.
Bertman was a seven-time national coach of the year and part of the inaugural College Baseball Hall of Fame class in 2006. After he retired as LSU baseball coach in 2001, his No. 15 jersey was permanently retired at the school and the street in front of the original Alex Box Stadium was renamed Skip Bertman Drive.
"Few people have had a greater impact on LSU than Skip Bertman," LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry said in a statement. "As the greatest college baseball coach of all-time, and later as our Athletics Director, Skip developed a championship standard and culture that still guide us today. Personally, he was a dear friend, mentor and advisor, and I'm forever grateful for the trust and faith he placed in me to serve this institution. I will continue to honor Skip by leaning into the lessons he taught me every day. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones at this time."
We mourn today the passing of LSU legend Skip Bertman, the greatest coach in college baseball history, a visionary leader, and one of the most impactful figures in the evolution of collegiate athletics. pic.twitter.com/ImXrx2smwv
— LSU Tigers (@LSUsports) August 14, 2026
In international competition, Bertman was an assistant coach on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal. Eight years later, he was the head coach of the U.S. Olympic squad that won bronze in Atlanta.
In a Baseball America poll released in January 1999, Bertman was voted the second-greatest college baseball coach of the 20th century, behind only USC's Rod Dedeaux.
"My heart is broken this morning....we have lost Coach Bertman," former LSU pitcher Ben McDonald, an ESPN college baseball analyst, wrote on his X account Friday morning. "The best to ever fill out a lineup card....the man who changed college baseball forever and the man who built the best baseball program in the country.
"As great a coach he was, even a better man that touched countless lives! So thankful I got to see him last night and tell him how much I loved him 1 more time!"
McDonald was among the 41 former players of Bertman's who reached the major leagues, a list that includes outfielder Albert Belle, infielders Todd Walker and Mike Fontenot, and pitchers Paul Byrd, Mark Guthrie and Russ Springer.
After becoming LSU athletic director in January 2001, Bertman oversaw a department that won numerous national titles, including football national championships under Nick Saban in 2003 and Les Miles in 2007.
Born in Detroit on May 23, 1938, Bertman was an outfielder and catcher at the University of Miami from 1958 to 1960. After a 10-year career as the head baseball coach at Miami Beach High School, Bertman joined his alma mater's staff as an assistant under Ron Fraser.
In the 1982 Men's College World Series, Bertman helped the Hurricanes pull off one of the most famous plays in the sport's history. While preparing to play Wichita State, Bertman and assistant coach Dave Scott devised a trick play to account for the Shockers' speed.
In the sixth inning on June 7, 1982, Wichita State's Phil Stephenson reached first. After a couple of pickoff attempts, Miami pitcher Mike Kasprzak stepped off the rubber and faked a throw to first.
Stephenson dove back to the bag, and first baseman Steve Lusby pretended to lunge for a wild throw. Miami's second baseman and players in the dugout began yelling, "Ball! Ball!" Pitchers in the bullpen down the first-base line even acted like they were jumping out of the way of the ball.
When Stephenson broke for second, however, Kasprzak casually threw the ball to the shortstop, who tagged him out.
"We made it look so good, you'd want to eat it," Fraser once said of the play, which became known as the "Grand Illusion."
The Hurricanes would go on to win the first of their two national titles under Fraser.
Bertman is survived by his daughters, Jan, Jodi and Lori, and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sandy, who died in March 2025, and daughter Lisa Jo Pate.