Dugout to desk: Skip Bertman’s new job
There is a street sign in his office that reads “Skip Bertman Dr.” Another one just like it rests at the corner of South Stadium Road and Nicholson Drive in front of Alex Box Stadium — the baseball diamond where he became a legend.
This season will be different for LSU legend and current Athletics Director Skip Bertman after spending 18 years in the dugout as LSU’s baseball coach.
For the first time since 1983, the LSU baseball team will take the field under the new direction of coach Smoke Laval, beginning the post-Bertman era.
The 2002 baseball season will mark a bittersweet time for Bertman. Although perfectly happy and doing an excellent job as LSU’s athletics director, there are things he will miss after a total of 42 years coaching all levels of baseball.
“For me, the thing that I’m going to miss the most and enjoyed the most was the interaction with the players on a daily basis. I enjoyed that the most,” Bertman said. “I think every coach would agree that the interaction is the most fun.”
Bertman — who directed LSU to College World Series crowns in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000 — said there have been times this past year that he caught himself looking at his wristwatch, and thinking to himself about what he would be doing at that particular time if he was still coaching. And then he would snap back into the reality of today.
The rookie athletics director said he is unsure of what he will feel watching LSU baseball this season instead of coaching it.
“We’re going to find out,” he said. “I knew this was coming and had a chance to prepare for it all year. But in essence, I’ve prepared for it for years.”
Upon announcing his retirement before the start of the 2001 baseball season, Bertman did not have plans to become LSU’s athletics director but more of an assistant to the athletics director, particularly in fund raising.
“Then I was going to do some professional speaking with the Washington Speakers Bureau with the help of [former LSU basketball coach] Dale Brown,” Bertman said. “I was planning to do that, and then the chancellor came to see me last January or late December. He expressed an interest and caught me off guard.”
Bertman, like he did in many innings with the Tigers, examined the situation and then checked with his wife, Sandy, before making the decision to succeed Joe Dean as athletics director.
“I thought it was a good thing to do for me and for LSU. And I’m glad I did,” he said. “While I could retire from coaching, I couldn’t retire from everything. So this is an opportunity for me to stay close but not be totally involved.”
Bertman, who in his years as a coach has been under 11 different athletics directors, said his transition from baseball coach to athletics director was an easy and fun one.
“The transition isn’t a hard one, to do the athletics directorship, although there is a learning curve in any new job,” he said. “However the tougher transition is not to coach after coaching for 42 years. Although I knew that was coming. This was the year we decided to do it and it was going to come eventually.”
Being the athletics director is a lot like being a coach, Bertman said. It’s just a bigger picture.
“Instead of worrying about just one sport, you’re worried about 20,” he said. “The hours are pretty much the same. They’re long just like they were in coaching. But I liked that.”
One of the first things Bertman did after assuming his new position was give an open invitation to all coaches in the LSU Athletic Department to come to him for advice.
“I opened up my coaching materials, particularly those in motivation and team building,” Bertman said. “Many have taken advantage of that. I’ve spoken to several teams and probably will continue to do that.”
It’s been an exciting first year for Bertman.
From the joys of Nick Saban and the LSU football team winning the Sugar Bowl and Southeastern Conference Championship, to the sorrows of the events on Sept. 11, 2001, Bertman has learned a lot in his first year.
“In the athletics directorship there are some tough, tough times, like decisions that have to be made that are not in everybody’s best interest, meaning that it’s hard to please all the people,” Bertman said. “That’s tough. On the other hand, there are also some wonderful things as well. Mostly, in the athletics directorship, I’m seeing a lot more of the other sports than I was able to see [as baseball coach], and I enjoy that.”
Bertman is helping the LSU baseball team build a new stadium in the next few years. Upon it’s completion, there is little doubt who the new stadium will be named after.
Moreover, Bertman is looking forward to the future of LSU athletics overall, with the “skipper” at the helm of the ship.
“I’ve got a vision of what to do, like I did in baseball,” he said. “I think that if people are patient and understand that it does cost a lot of money to do these things, and can only go up, we can build new facilities and escalate and compete with the top teams in the country in most sports.” 
Lastly, Bertman is having a blast.
“Yeah. I’m having a good time,” he said. “I’ve got a great staff. Joe [Dean] left it in good shape. He left a good, well trained staff. So that’s why I am having fun.”