LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman sat comfortably in his sixth-floor office just less than a month before his 71st birthday. The five-time College World Series championship coach, sitting with a large flat computer screen behind him, spoke confidently and conversationally about his accomplishments at LSU, often gesturing to help get his point across his dark, wooden desk and its few scattered papers. Bertman tells his many tales openly and in great detail, not at all phased by a photographer circling the perimeter of the room or the bustle of people passing his two open office doors. As Bertman’s June 30 resignation creeps closer, he is not shy with his feelings about being athletic director and the ups and downs the position has shown the Detroit native. “I knew the job sucked,” Bertman told 225 magazine this month. “It’s a terrible job, but that’s what they needed, and I knew I could do this.” But that does not mean Bertman regrets his decision to serve as athletic director. “There’s nothing that surprised me. This is a brutal job,” he said. “But, you know, I’m very happy with the way it turned out. In other words, I think it’s been the best seven years in athletic history.” Although the football team won two Bowl Championship Series National Championships during Bertman’s tenure, the former LSU baseball coach is quick to mention the success of other sports. “Of the 20 teams, all of them have performed well – all of them,” Bertman said. “Presently we’re 12th or 13th in the Sears [Directors’] Cup. We were 17th at the end last year, so we compete with Florida, Georgia and Tennessee who are the schools that really go to win in all the sports.” LSU is No. 13 overall and second to Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings, which is an award based on universities’ all-around athletic success. Bertman spent more time talking about how close several LSU teams have come than about the football team’s title run. “Women’s basketball missed it by seven seconds,” he said. “I think that the track and field team – God bless [track coach] Dennis Shaver – he’s had some bad luck and finished second. He’s so good that they’re always amongst the top, and he’s had some two-tenths of a second or a foot and finished second in the nation.” Gymnastics finished fifth in the NCAA Super Six this past weekend, the Tigers’ best finish in 20 years. The track team set a record with six Championship of America titles this weekend at the Penn Relays in the team’s final meet before the SEC Championships in May. Bertman’s successor, Joe Alleva, said he recognizes the impact Bertman has and hopes to continue the success. “There’s big shoes to fill and things to do as we move forward, and the goal is just to keep getting better,” Alleva said. But Bertman’s era has had its challenges too. Some of the most controversial situations Bertman has dealt with as athletic director have come near the end of his tenure. More than 13 months ago, Bertman and the University dismissed former women’s basketball coach Pokey Chatman amid allegations of inappropriate conduct with players. Bertman’s athletic department then held the task of replacing Chatman, who LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard called “LSU’s daughter.” Amid what was expected to be somewhat of a transition year, Bertman has had to field frequent questions about LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, whose name has been associated with missed classes and team meetings as well as incidents at the Varsity and Kona Grill. On the morning of the football team’s SEC championship, reports hit ESPN that coach Les Miles was leaving for Michigan, and two months later Bertman fired former men’s basketball coach John Brady one day before the Tigers’ matchup with then-No. 7 Tennessee. Former Stanford coach Trent Johnson eventually took the LSU job after Bertman’s athletic department’s two-month search – a search originally expected to use a search firm before the administration decided otherwise, only to eventually hire a search firm later. But Bertman said athletics are not the thing he most wants to be remembered for. “When I would talk to players one on one, I would ask them, ‘If the locker rooms could talk, what would you want the locker rooms to say about you after you’ve competed for four or five years,'” Bertman said. “The answers they gave are pretty much the same answer that I’m giving to you: That I tried as hard as I could; I was a good competitor; that I’ve helped a lot of people … that I showed people that just about anything is possible.” Bertman’s most personal one-on-one relationship at LSU may have been with former LSU baseball player Wally Pontiff Jr., who died July 24, 2002, of a heart abnormality. Wally Pontiff Sr. called Bertman his eldest son’s “daddy in Baton Rouge.” “He was really a wonderful kid, certainly as great as I ever had,” Bertman said. “I was a better coach and a better person for having spent time with young Wally.” Bertman also told the story of former LSU catcher Jamin Garidel, son of former Catholic High School baseball coach Gerry Garidel. Bertman said Gerry asked him to bring Jamin to LSU, and Bertman told Gerry that Jamin could not play that high a level of baseball. “His response was ‘I don’t care if he ever plays. I just want him to spend time with you,'” Bertman said. Jamin would eventually be a member of LSU’s 2000 College World Series team with Wally Pontiff Jr. “That’s what this thing’s all about: can you make people better?” Bertman said. “I don’t mean better baseball players, I mean better people. And if you’re the athletic director, can you make employees better people. That’s what this is all about, and I think I’ve done some of that, and that pleases me to know that I’ve helped some people.” Bertman said he is now looking forward to helping LSU by moving on to an athletic director emeritus position focused on fundraising. He said he will particularly target former athletes. “There are many who haven’t played [professionally], but they are still very successful alumni,” Bertman said. And as Alleva replaces Bertman on July 1, Bertman said the former Duke athletic director has his confidence. In fact, Bertman feels he has already made at least one move to help Alleva succeed – firing former LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady. “It’s important that the new athletic director not have to make unpopular decisions in the very beginning,” Bertman said. “I thought that I could help with that, and I think that the new basketball coach is a good step for LSU.” Alleva said he does not feel threatened by Bertman’s sometimes larger-than-life presence, especially since Bertman is staying on staff. “We’re all on the same team, and the goal is to make this place as good as it can be,” Alleva said.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]