Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said Wednesday that Louisiana State University (LSU) athletics director Scott Woodward will not be involved in picking the university’s next football coach.
“I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach,” Landry said at a press conference. “Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it.”
On Sunday, LSU parted ways with head football coach Brian Kelly. Kelly, hired in November 2021 after 12 seasons at the University of Notre Dame, went 34-14 during his time leading the Tigers, reaching the SEC Championship Game in 2022.
In a release announcing Kelly’s dismissal, the athletic department said the “terms of the separation are still being negotiated.”
Kelly was in his fourth year of a 10-year, $95 million contract. Per his contract, LSU owes Kelly roughly $53 million to buy him out. WDSU in New Orleans reported Monday that one private donor is set to fund nearly the entire buyout.
Landry confirmed Wednesday that he met with school officials at the governor’s mansion in Baton Rouge on Sunday to discuss dismissing Kelly and paying his buyout. He added that the LSU Board of Supervisors will assemble a hiring committee to select Kelly’s replacement.
Of the 14 members of the board, Landry has appointed six, including Chair Scott Ballard and Vice Chair Lee Mallett. The board is also responsible for hiring LSU’s next president, for which the search is ongoing.
Landry criticized Woodward for awarding Kelly the pricey contract, as well as for hiring former Texas A&M University head football coach Jimbo Fisher in 2017 during his time as the Aggies’ athletic director.
At the time, Woodward signed Fisher to a 10-year, $75-million contract. Woodward’s replacement, Ross Bjork, extended Fisher’s contract in 2021, boosting his annual salary to more than $9 million.
Fisher was later fired in November 2023, with Texas A&M buying out his contract to the tune of nearly $77 million, the largest such payment in college football history.
“I can promise you, we’re going to pick a coach, and we’re going to make sure that that coach is successful, and we’re going to make sure that he’s compensated properly 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 foot the bill,” the governor said.
The Hill has reached out to the LSU athletic department for further comment.