By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker made two bad play calls on Friday during a rare press conference with an LSU football assistant coach.
First, he forgot to lead off his appearance by commenting on the passing of LSU baseball coaching legend Skip Bertman, who died at age 88 early Friday.
“I look at this man, and I see the John Wooden of college baseball.”
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) August 14, 2026
-LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson at his introductory press conference in 2021 to Skip Bertman, who died at age 88 early Friday.https://t.co/BwqSk4RuGv
And second, the third-year DC for the Tigers brought up Bertman’s last game as LSU’s coach, which was a 7-1 loss to Tulane on June 3, 2001, at Zephyr Field in Metairie that kept Bertman out of one last trip to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series.
“I should’ve started the press conference with that,” Baker said when asked about Bertman. “He obviously put LSU baseball on the map and really LSU Athletics in a sense when you talk about a five-time national champions (1991, ’93, ’96, ’97, 2000). My heart goes out for him and his family and LSU’s baseball family for sure.”
Baker, who is known as a diehard LSU baseball fan and is almost always wearing an LSU baseball cap, was asked how a linebacker at Tulane from 2000-04 and a Houston native became such an LSU baseball fan.
“Honestly, when I was at Tulane, they were really good in baseball,” he said.
The Green Wave did reach the College World Series in 2001 when Baker was playing for the Greenies and again in 2005 just after he left. “I think they beat LSU in the Super Regional, if I’m not mistaken.”
He wasn’t. After LSU beat Tulane in the opener of the best-of-three Super Regional on June 1, 2001, 4-3 in 13 innings on a Mike Fontenot home run, Tulane won games two and three, 9-4 and 7-1, and reached Omaha for the first time in Tulane history.
A member of the media contingent said, “Hey,” faking anger when Baker mentioned the Tulane win.
“But you know, once they start paying your bills, you become a fan,” Baker said of his switch from Tulane Baseball to LSU Baseball.
“No. In all seriousness, they’re a fun group to watch, man,” he said of the Tigers’ baseball team, which has won two national championships in the last four years of coach Jay Johnson – the 2023 national title when Baker was Missouri’s defensive coordinator and the 2025 title.
Baker, 44, is about to begin his third season as the Tigers’ DC, but he thought about taking the head coaching job at Tulane or at Memphis after last season. He could have had either one, but opted to stay under new LSU head coach Lane Kiffin. And got a hefty $500,000 raise and a new three-year deal in the process that will pay him $9.3 million over three years..
“Jay Johnson, he’s one of my good friends,” Baker said. “A guy that honestly I leaned on when I was deciding about being a head coach. They do an outstanding job now, and I can’t wait to see what they do next season.”
He also can’t wait to see how LSU’s new football coach does this season.
“I had a couple of great opportunities (at Tulane and Memphis), but talking to Lane Kiffin, I truly believe in what he does on offense and what we do on defense,” Baker said. “And the ultimate goal is to bring a national championship to LSU. I kind of want to see that through.”
Skip Bertman would have appreciated that.
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