La. Gov.: LSU AD won't select new football coach

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry told reporters Wednesday that LSU athletic director Scott Woodward won't be involved in selecting the Tigers' new football coach, saying he'd let President Donald Trump do it before Woodward.

The Tigers fired Brian Kelly on Sunday, a day after his team lost 49-25 to Texas A&M at home to drop to 5-3.

Kelly, 64, had a 34-14 record in four seasons at LSU, winning just under 71% of his games. The Tigers have lost three of their past four games after climbing to No. 3 in the AP poll earlier this season.

"No, I can tell you right now Scott Woodward is not selecting 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 assemble a selection committee to find a new coach, but Woodward won't be a part of it if the governor has his way.

"Maybe we'll let President Trump pick it," Landry said. "He loves winners. You know, I'm not going to be picking the next coach, but I can promise you we're gonna pick a coach and we're gonna make sure that that coach is successful. We're gonna make sure that he's compensated properly, and we're gonna put metrics on it because I'm tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill."

Landry criticized Woodward for agreeing to a 10-year, $95 million contract with Kelly that included incentives and which left LSU on the hook for a $54 million buyout under the terms of the deal.

In a statement Monday, Woodward said the school would "continue to negotiate his separation and will work toward a path that is better for both parties."

Landry also criticized Woodward for agreeing to a similar one-sided coaching contract when he was Texas A&M's athletic director. The Aggies owed football coach Jimbo Fisher more than $76 million when they fired him in November 2023, which was nearly triple the highest-known 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 that made his 10-year deal worth more than $90 million. Woodward originally gave Fisher a 10-year, $75 million contract when he was hired away from Florida State.

"We are not going down a failed path. And I want to tell you something: This is a pattern," Landry told reporters. "The guy that's here now that wrote that contract cost Texas A&M 70-some million dollars. Right now, we've got a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again. And you know what? I believe that we're gonna find a great coach."

Landry acknowledged that he met with LSU officials at the governor's mansion Sunday night to discuss the legalities of firing Kelly and who was going to pay his hefty buyout.

"My role is about the fiscal effect of firing a coach under a terrible contract, OK?" Landry said. "All I care about is what the taxpayers are going to be on the hook [for]. I was also not 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 were not getting the results.

"Now, look, I have no animus against Brian Kelly. I don't dislike Brian Kelly. But I think that it had gotten to the point, and I think they realized that the spirit of the team needed a change."

An LSU official didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.