By Ralph D. Russo, Bruce Feldman and Chris Vannini
LSU and athletic director Scott Woodward are parting ways effective immediately, the school announced Thursday. The news comes one day after the governor of Louisiana said Woodward would not be allowed to hire former Tigers coach Brian Kelly’s replacement.
Executive Deputy AD Verge Ausberry will serve as the interim AD.
“We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” Scott Ballard, the Board of Supervisors Chair, said in a statement. “He had a lot of success at LSU, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future. Our focus now is on moving the athletic department forward and best positioning LSU to achieve its full potential.”
Kelly’s three-plus seasons as LSU head coach came to an end Sunday after butting heads about potential staff changes with Woodward, the AD who hired him away from Notre Dame with a 10-year, $95 million contract.
After letting Kelly go on Sunday, Woodward released a statement that asserted he was still in charge of the athletic department.
Gov. Jeff Landry had other plans.
“No, I can tell you right now Scott Woodward is not selecting our next coach,” Landry said during a news conference at the state capitol in Baton Rouge on Wednesday.
“Maybe we’ll let President Trump pick it,” he added.
Landry, who charged LSU’s board of supervisors with leading the search for a new football coach, expressed dissatisfaction with the massive contract that Woodward had given Kelly, which included a buyout for as much as $53 million.
“My role is about the fiscal effect of firing a coach under a terrible contract,” Landry said. “All I care about is what the taxpayers are going to be on the hook on (for). I was also not happy with the fact that we were raising ticket prices while we were having a losing season and we were paying a coach $100 million and we were not getting the results.”
Woodward himself will be owed a buyout of more than $6 million, per the terms of his latest contract, unless the sides agree to a settlement. That $6-plus million would be paid out into 2029 and subject to offset from the salary at Woodward’s next job. He is required to attempt to find another athletic director job or a similar position to mitigate that buyout. It’s the same buyout format Kelly had in his coaching contract.
Woodward has been athletic director at his alma mater since 2019 after stints at Washington and Texas A&M. Known for splashy hires in high-profile sports, Woodward landed Chris Petersen at Washington and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. While the Kelly hire didn’t work out at LSU, Woodward also hired Kim Mulkey away from Baylor and she led LSU to a women’s basketball national title in 2023.
The Baton Rouge native was a political consultant and legislative liaison in his hometown before breaking into college athletics with LSU as director of external affairs in 2000 under then-chancellor and future NCAA president Mark Emmert.
Woodward then followed Emmert to Washington for a similar role.
First Appeared on
Source link
