LSU parts ways with embattled AD Scott Woodward

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LSU and athletic director Scott Woodward mutually agreed to part ways, the university announced Thursday night, in the wake of the high-profile firing of football coach Brian Kelly.

After LSU dismissed Kelly over the weekend, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said during a press conference at the state capitol that Woodward would not be involved in hiring the Tigers’ next coach.

LSU and Woodward are finalizing an exit agreement that will see the athletic director receive more than $6 million as per the terms of his buyout, Yahoo Sports and The Athletic reported.

Verge Ausberry, a former Tigers football player and longtime LSU athletic department executive, was named the interim athletic director. Ausberry “will lead all facets of the athletic department, including the search for the next head football coach,” the school said in a news release.

“We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” LSU Board of Supervisors chair Scott Ballard 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.”

An LSU alumnus and Baton Rouge native, Woodward had been the school’s athletic director since 2019, when he arrived after a three-year stay in the same position at Texas A&M.

At Texas A&M, Woodward hired Jimbo Fisher as the Aggies’ head football coach. After a 45-25 run over five-plus seasons, Fisher was fired and his contract bought out for $77 million, the largest in college football history.

LSU faces a similar quagmire with Kelly, whom Woodward hired from Notre Dame before the 2022 season. Kelly was owed a $54 million buyout, according to contract details obtained by USA Today, but LSU was reportedly working to reduce that total.

The Athletic reported Sunday that Woodward told Kelly to fire offensive coordinator and play-caller Joe Sloan after LSU’s 49-25 loss to Texas A&M, and Kelly refused in an argument that “escalated.”

LSU is currently without a president, as William F. Tate IV left to become the president of Rutgers earlier this year, leaving a leadership void that Landry appeared to fill Wednesday.

“We are not going down a failed path. And I want to tell you something: This is a pattern,” Landry said of Woodward. “The guy that’s here now that wrote that contract cost Texas A&M 70-some million dollars. Right now, we’ve got a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again. And you know what? I believe that we’re gonna find a great coach.”

Woodward also oversaw the hiring of women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey from Baylor and baseball coach Jay Johnson from Arizona. Both have coached their LSU teams to national championships.

–Field Level Media