On Monday, Louisiana State University fired its football coach.
On Wednesday, Governor Jeff Landry said the university’s athletic director, Scott Woodward, should have no say in the selection of a new coach.
Woodward and LSU on Thursday, according to the school’s athletic department.
And on Friday, the interim athletic director tried to assure everyone that despite everything that has happened this week, the department is not in turmoil.
“This place isn’t broken,” Virge Ausberry said at a news conference sitting between two members of the LSU Board of Supervisors in front of a conference room inside Tiger Stadium. “The athletic department is not broken. We will win.”
Ausberry has been given “full authority” to run the athletic department and lead the search for a new football coach, board member John Carmouche told reporters.
“We’re going to hire the best football coach that exists. That’s our job. We’re not going to let this program fail. LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football,” said Ausberry, a former Tigers football player who has worked in the LSU athletics department since 1991.
Woodward, a Baton Rouge native and LSU graduate, had been the university’s athletic director since April 2019. During that time, the Tigers won two national titles in gymnastics and one in gymnastics.
One of the big moves made during Woodward’s tenure was signing former Notre Dame coach Kelly to a 10-year guaranteed contract worth about $100 million after leading the Tigers to a national championship after the 2019 season.
Kelly was fired this week with more than six years left on his contract, days after LSU suffered its third loss in four games. Running backs coach Frank Wilson has been named interim head coach.
“When Coach Kelly arrived at LSU four years ago, we had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” Woodward said in announcing Kelly’s firing. “At the end of the day, the level of success that LSU required didn’t happen.”
The move puts the university on the brink of a major takeover. Louisiana’s governor said Wednesday that he was involved in the discussions that led to Kelly’s ouster, but made clear he was unhappy with the finances of the situation.
“My role is about the financial impact of firing a coach under a bad contract,” Landry said when asked about LSU’s recent developments, while speaking to reporters about other matters. “All I care about is what the taxpayers are going to be stuck with.”
Anonymous private donors are said to have promised to pay for Mr. Kelly’s purchase.
“If a multi-billionaire wants to spend that much money, that’s fine,” Landry said. “But if you have to go find $53 million…it’s not going to be a fun conversation.”
Landry also made it clear that Woodward would not have a role in hiring the next coach.
“Hell, I’m going to let Donald Trump choose him before I let him (Woodward),” the Republican governor said.
The next night, Woodward was out.
“We would like to thank Mr. Scott for his service as athletic director over the past six years,” LSU Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott Ballard said in a statement. “He has had a lot of success at LSU, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors. Our focus now is to move the athletic department forward and put LSU in the best position to reach its full potential.”
News of Woodward’s departure broke during the LSU-Langston women’s basketball exhibition game. Tigers coach Kim Mulkey, who replaced Woodward in 2021, did not attend the postgame press conference, and associate head coach Bob Starkey told reporters Mulkey was “heartbroken” to hear the news.
In an open letter to Tiger Nation, Woodward wrote: “While others can sum up or opine about my tenure and decisions over the past six years as Director of Athletics, I will not. Rather, I would like to focus on the absolute joy that LSU Athletics brings to the residents of our state and the Baton Rouge community…
“Our university has always held a special place in my heart and I have never been far from LSU.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
