Bertman, 5-time MCWS winner at LSU, dies at 88
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- Skip Bertman died early Friday morning at 88, LSU announced, ending a career that reshaped the Tigers into a national baseball powerhouse
- Bertman took over LSU's baseball program in 1984 and led the Tigers to the Men's College World Series 11 times, winning national titles in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000 while compiling an 870-330-3 record and seven SEC titles
- LSU permanently retired Bertman's No. 15 jersey and renamed the street in front of Alex Box Stadium 'Skip Bertman Drive' after he stepped down as baseball coach in 2001
- Bertman became LSU's athletic director that same year and oversaw a department that captured football national championships under Nick Saban in 2003 and Les Miles in 2007
- Bertman was inducted into the inaugural College Baseball Hall of Fame class in 2006 and was voted the second-greatest college baseball coach of the 20th century in a 1999 Baseball America poll, trailing only USC's Rod Dedeaux
- Bertman served as an assistant on the 1988 U.S. Olympic gold-medal team and head coach of the 1996 Olympic bronze-medal squad, and 41 of his former players reached the major leagues, including Albert Belle, Ben McDonald, Todd Walker and Paul Byrd
Why it matters: Bertman's unusual double tenure — five baseball national championships as coach, then oversight of football titles under Saban and Miles as athletic director — built the championship culture current AD Verge Ausberry credits as still guiding LSU today, making him arguably the most influential figure in the program's modern athletic history.
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