LSU AD Scott Woodward agrees to part ways as Tigers begin football coaching search

LSU and athletic director Scott Woodward have agreed to part ways, the program announced Thursday night. This major change at the top of the Tigers organization comes amid a football coaching search that would hire a replacement for Brian Kelly, who was ousted from the team last Sunday.

Woodward has fallen out of favor with LSU stakeholders, including Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who said Woodward would not hire the Tigers’ next coach because of his track record of huge buyouts of ousted team leaders.

Kelly was at LSU with a massive $53 million buyout, the second-largest buyout in college football history. Woodward has $6.4 million of his own. The Tigers may not be on the hook for those totals since both contracts include a mitigating clause with a duty to find new work.

“We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” said LSU Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott Ballard. “He has had a lot of success at LSU, and we wish him nothing but the best for the future. Our focus now is on moving the athletic department forward and better positioning LSU to achieve its full potential.”

Longtime sports official Verge Ausberry will serve as the interim announcer. He will be tasked with leading “all aspects of the athletic department, including the search for the next head football coach,” per LSU. Osberry served as Executive Vice AD ​​under Woodward and Executive Director of External Relations at LSU.

“I am honored that the Board of Supervisors and university leadership place their trust in serving the university in this role,” Osberry said in a statement. “… It is my responsibility to move this athletic department forward, including hiring the best football coach in America to lead our program. Our coaches and staff will continue to work every day to give our student-athletes the best experience possible and set championship-level standards.”

Landry previously indicated that in Woodward’s place, the LSU Board of Supervisors will oversee the search for a new football coach. It has not been determined whether this is the plan with Ausberry leading the search or whether Ausberry will have more authority in the hiring process.

“We’re not going to go down the road of failure,” Landry said, “and I wanted to tell you something. This is a pattern. The man who wrote.” [Kelly’s] The contract cost Texas A&M $70 million. We have a commitment of $53 million. I think we will find a great coach. … The Board of Supervisors will form a committee, and they will find us a coach.”

Woodward was hired by LSU in 2019 after a run at Texas A&M where he was responsible for recruiting Jimbo Fisher away from Florida State. He brought Fisher in for a huge sum via a massive, ill-timed contract extension that resulted in the biggest acquisition of a year College football History, leaving the Aggies on the hook for $76 million when they fire Fisher during the 2023 season.

Woodward similarly plucked Kelly away from Notre Dame, originally signing him to a 10-year, $95 million contract in 2021.

While neither Kelly nor Fisher met the lofty expectations at their schools, Woodward had hired a home-based employee earlier in his career. Former Washington AD plucked Chris Petersen away from Boise State in a move that revitalized the Huskies football program, which eventually made a College Football Playoff appearance in 2016.

Woodward’s penchant for hiring flashy staff injected energy into the programs at each of his stations, but the moves ultimately came with dire financial consequences at Texas A&M and LSU.

Kelly’s shooting spelled the end of Woodward’s six-year tenure at LSU. Kelly was an awkward fit for the Tigers from the start but held tremendous promise as a long-time winner at Notre Dame. He never lost fewer than three games in a season in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, though he failed to reach the CFP.

The struggles to break into the SEC’s elite class came to a head last weekend when the Tigers lost at home to No. 3 Texas A&M. “Fire Kelly” chants echoed throughout the abandoned Tiger Stadium.