Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry Weighs In On Hiring Of Next LSU Head Coach
In a move that sent shockwaves through the college football world, Governor Jeff Landry stepped up to a podium on Wednesday and essentially told LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward to take a hike.
In a fiery press conference that had all the subtlety of a blitz on third-and-long, Landry made it crystal clear who won’t be picking the next head coach for the Tigers after Brian Kelly’s unceremonious exit.
“We are not going down a failed path,” Landry declared, taking a not-so-subtle shot at Woodward’s history of, let’s say, expensive decisions. “The guy that wrote [Kelly’s] contract cost Texas A&M $70-something million. We have a $53 million liability. I believe that we are going to find a great coach… the board of supervisors are going to come up with a committee and they’re going to find us a coach.”
It was a stunning public undressing of a high-profile athletic director.
Landry to Woodward: You’re Fired (From Hiring)
For those keeping score at home, Woodward is the man who orchestrated two of the most eye-watering buyouts in college football history. First, he lured Jimbo Fisher to Texas A&M with a Brink’s truck full of cash, a deal that ended with the Aggies on the hook for a historic $76 million.
Then, he brought Brian Kelly to LSU, a move that just cost the school a cool $52.38 million to undo. That’s over $128 million in buyout money tied to one AD’s hires. You could buy a whole lot of gumbo with that kind of dough.
Landry, clearly fed up with the fiscal carnage, decided enough was enough. He didn’t just sideline Woodward; he practically put him on waivers. “Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select before I let him do it!” Landry said, blending his political allegiances with his gridiron frustrations.
The Bayou Chain Of Command Just Got Complicated
Here’s where the plot thickens, though. While Landry was busy laying down the law, his decree seemed to be news to the very people he put in charge. When a reporter asked Scott Ballard, the chairman of the LSU Board of Supervisors, if he knew he was running the coaching search, his response was a priceless: “No, I didn’t know that.”
You can’t make this stuff up. It’s a level of organizational chaos that would make even the most dysfunctional NFL franchises blush. So, as LSU enters the market for a new coach, the biggest question is not who they will hire. It is who, exactly, who is running the show? Will it be a committee? The governor? A former president? One thing is for certain: the drama in Baton Rouge is just getting started, and it is promising to be more entertaining than anything we have seen on the field this season.
