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Dan Wetzel
LSU currently does not have a president, athletic director, or head football coach.
Louisiana has a governor, Jeff Landry, who essentially fired the latter two and, having apparently solved all the issues facing the people of his state, is spending his time dominating the athletic department.
It’s a task that always seems easy, whether from an Internet message board or the Tiger Stadium bleachers.
Landry initially said that the task of hiring a new coach would be assigned to a subcommittee formed by the school’s 17-member Board of Supervisors. After days of criticism, interim athletic director Verge Osberry said Friday that a search committee had been formed, but that he had been given full authority to hire “the best football coach.”
Well, until Landry gives President Trump the power to choose.
“He loves winners, you know?” Landry said back Wednesday.
Landry was joking. we think. Really, who can tell? After all, a sitting president with no real ties to a university selecting a football coach makes about as much sense as selecting one through a bureaucratic committee.
(Who will Trump pick? Tommy Tuberville? Herschel Walker? Another job for Marco Rubio?)
“A total clown show,” said a rival SEC athletic director.
Even by the standards of the three-ring circus known as college football.
The question is whether political involvement will hinder LSU from identifying the right athletic director/coach combination to return the Tigers to a national championship – or worse, scare away the best candidates.
The game is hard enough without the intervening governor.
LSU dropped to 5-3 following a humiliating loss to Texas A&M on Saturday. This caused not only Landry, but many Tiger fans to lose all confidence in Brian Kelly, who athletic director Scott Woodward had hired from Notre Dame 3 1/2 seasons earlier.
Kelly was just 34-14 (19-10 in SEC play) in Baton Rouge. All three previous coaches of the program won national titles. Kelly didn’t even manage a playoff bid. So Landry planned a Sunday shootout with a $54 million buyout for Kelly and his “fam-uh-lee” Go away.
A few days later, at a press conference about food stamps and behind a sign that read “Protecting the Most Vulnerable,” he set his sights on humiliating and essentially firing Woodward for appointing Kelly in the first place.
“I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not our next coach,” Landry said.
Kelly’s 10-year, $100 million contract was obviously bad for the school, but that amount was also on par with the standard rate and was unanimously approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
Woodward satirized Kelly, an awkward fit that became uncomfortable in the rapidly changing NIL/transfer portal era. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t a complete disaster. Those three losses this season came to three Top 10 teams – 8-0 A&M, 7-1 Ole Miss and 7-1 Vanderbilt.
It’s worth noting that Woodward is also responsible for hiring LSU’s baseball and women’s basketball coaches – both of whom have led the school to national titles. Women’s gymnastics has also won everything during Woodward’s tenure.
In previous AD jobs, Woodward hired Chris Peterson to revive the Washington football program and Jimbo Fisher to lead Texas A&M. Fisher ultimately lost and was owed a whopping $76 million.
“It’s a pattern,” Landry said of Woodward being responsible for the large payments.
However, the governor’s timing was wrong. After some early success when Woodward was the AD in College Station, Fisher’s contract was actually renewed by Woodward’s successor. Landry also suggested that taxpayers were looking for Kelly’s golden parachute. That will be handled with private money.
But, let’s not let the facts get in the way of things here.
That doesn’t mean Kelly or Woodward need to keep their jobs. It’s just that some trickery was in order, if only for external perception. Nor was Landry wrong about some things – coaching contracts are out of control, too many ADs and coaches share agents, and most notably, LSU and its fans deserve a program that can win national titles.
Like most things in politics, there is enough truth to make almost any argument work.
The problem for LSU is that this isn’t politics. This is a college game. Passion drives everything, but precision drives results.
If Landry thinks LSU is going to ask Lane Kiffin to leave Ole Miss without a Kelly-esque contract (or a bigger one), he doesn’t understand business.
LSU has the resources, recruiting base and tradition to be considered a top five job in the country. It’s a special place, a prestigious job. However, hiring a coach is a complex task. The best candidates have other great options – from living in Florida to Penn State. Recruitment is often done confidentially and not through committee.
Osberry, executive deputy AD under Woodward, is part of the search group, along with select individuals from the board of supervisors and donors.
But are they really going to pay a $100 million hire to an interim AD?
Even when they find a coach, no one knows whether the new guy will be successful or not.
Now, LSU must contend with the perception of chaos… and a wild-card governor who controls the Board of Supervisors who will appoint not only the coach, but also a president and permanent AD, who need to work together closely at a time when the money stocks rosters.
You don’t just choose a coach; The coach has to convince you to choose him.
Louisiana in general, and LSU in particular, has always been surrounded by a healthy dose of craziness. It’s part of its power, part of its appeal, part of what makes it special. Play neck. Guex Tigers.
This too, after a few days of clumsy political posturing, has become a self-imposed hurdle to overcome.
