Days after Brian Kelly was shown the door at LSU, athletic director Scott Woodward is out of the job as well.
LSU and Woodward have parted ways effective immediately, the school announced late Thursday night, a day after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry adamantly stated that the school’s AD would not be heading the search for the Tigers’ next head football coach.
Executive deputy athletics director Verge Ausberry is being tapped as the interim athletic director and will be in charge of finding a new head coach, LSU said in a statement.
LSU athletics director Scott Woodward introduces Brian Kelly as the head coach of the LSU Tigers during a news conference at Tiger Stadium on December 1, 2021 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Getty Images“We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” Scott Ballard, 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.”
The move was expected to be made following the firing of Kelly on Sunday, CBS Sports and On3 reported.
Woodward does have a buyout of more than $6 million, though it’s unclear if the two sides reached a settlement regarding it.
The decision at AD is the latest twist in the drama that has been brewing in the swamps of Baton Rouge with the decision to cut ties with Kelly after LSU dropped its third game of the season on Saturday, in a 49-25 defeat to Texas A&M.
The situation took another turn on Wednesday when Landry lambasted Woodward during a press conference at the governor’s mansion, declaring that he’d “let Donald Trump select [the next coach] before I let [Woodward] do it.”
Athletic Director Scott Woodward and Garrett Nussmeier of the LSU Tigers celebrate after the game against the Ole Miss Rebels at Tiger Stadium on October 12, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. University Images via Getty ImagWoodward had held the AD position since 2019 after a stint at Texas A&M, where he was responsible for the hiring of Jimbo Fisher, who was later fired with an over $70 million buyout in 2023.
“We are not going down a failed path,” Landry said during his Wednesday press conference. “The guy that’s here now that wrote that contract cost Texas A&M $77 million. Right now, we’ve got a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again.”
Landry took his case to “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday as well, continuing to criticize Woodward.
But the plot thickened when Yahoo Sports published a report Thursday that the governor and now-ex-athletic director had long been at odds with one another and that Landry held a “personal vendetta” against Woodward.
One Louisiana political figure told the outlet that Landry’s “got it out for him” and that “this governor picks fights and he never forgets a slight.”
In a statement on Thursday, Ausberry said that he was “honored” that the board and university “put their trust in me.”
“It’s 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 a championship-level standard,” Ausberry said.
