-
mark schlabach
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry told reporters Wednesday that LSU athletic director Scott Woodward will not attend the selection. tigers‘The new football coach said he would let President Donald Trump do it before Woodward.
Tigers fire Brian Kelly on Sunday, a day after his team’s defeat 49-25 To Texas A&M To fall to 5-3 at home.
Kelly, 64, had a 34–14 record in four seasons at LSU, winning less than 71% of his games. The Tigers have lost three of their last four games after being ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll earlier this season.
“No, I can tell you right now that Scott Woodward is not our next coach,” Landry told reporters during a news conference at the state Capitol in Baton Rouge.
Landry said the LSU Board of Supervisors will form a selection committee to search for a new coach, but if the governor gets his way, Woodward will not be a part of it.
“Maybe we’ll let President Trump choose that,” Landry said. “He loves winners. You know, I’m not going to pick the next coach, but I can promise you that we’ll pick a coach and we’ll make sure that coach is successful. We’ll make sure he’s compensated fairly, and we’re going to put metrics on it because I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers to pay the bill.”
Landry criticized Woodward for agreeing to a 10-year, $95 million contract with Kelly that included incentives and which left LSU in trouble for a $54 million buyout under the terms of the deal.
In a statement Monday, Woodward said the school “will continue to negotiate their separation and work on a path that is best for both parties.”
Landry also criticized Woodward for agreeing to a similar one-sided coaching contract while he was Texas A&M’s athletic director. When the Aggies fired football coach Jimbo Fisher in November 2023, he was owed more than $76 million, nearly three times the amount of the most famous coaching contract buyout at a public school at the time.
However, it was Ross Bjork, who succeeded Woodward at Texas A&M in 2019, who gave Fisher a four-year extension just before the 2021 season, bringing his 10-year deal to more than $90 million. Woodward originally gave Fisher a 10-year, $75 million contract when he was hired away from Florida State.
“We’re not going down the path of failure. And let me tell you something: This is a pattern,” Landry told reporters. “The guy who’s here right now wrote that the contract cost Texas A&M $70 million. Right now, we’re owed $53 million. We’re not doing that again. And you know what? I believe we’re going to find a great coach.”
Landry acknowledged that he met with LSU officials at the Governor’s Mansion Sunday night to discuss the legality of firing Kelly and who was going to pay his heavy price.
“My role is about the financial impact of firing a coach who’s under a terrible contract, okay?” Landry said. “I just care what the burden is going to be on the taxpayers [for]I also wasn’t 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 weren’t getting results.
“Now, look, I have no animosity toward Brian Kelly. I don’t dislike Brian Kelly. But I think it got to the point, and I think he realized the spirit of the team needed a change.”
An LSU official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
