Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry says LSU athletics director Scott Woodward will not be the one who selects the Tigers new football coaches.
“Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach, hell I would let Donald Trump select it before I let him,” Landry told reporters at the state capitol during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.
Landry says Woodward is responsible for hiring coaches that led to the biggest contract buyouts in college football history.
“The guy that’s here right now that wrote that contract, cost Texas A&M 70-something million dollars, right now we have a $53 million liability, we are not doing that again,” Landry said.
When Woodward was the athletic director at Texas A&M, he hired Jimbo Fisher. Fisher was fired following the 2023 season and the cost to A&M was 77-million dollars.
It is worth noting that Woodward signed Fisher from Florida State on a 10 year, $75 million contract. Woodward's replacement at A&M, Ross Bjork, extended Fisher's contract, and that extension is what led to a $77 million buyout.
LSU still owes Brian Kelly around $54 million now that they’ve fired him.
Landry says private citizens are having to pay these huge buyouts and he said that’s not right.
“I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country and letting the taxpayers foot the bill,” Landry said.
The governor says the LSU Board of Supervisors can form a committee that will find the next head coach.
Landry also addressed reports that he was involved in the firing of Kelly on Sunday. The governor says he was involved because of the fiscal effect to the state for firing a coach under a terrible contract
“I hosted a meeting at the governor’s mansion to talk about the legalities, to talk about the costs, who pays for it, to talk about what’s the effect of it,” Landry said.
Landry says he’s confident LSU will hire a great football coach, and the state will support him, but he believes there should be metrics in place on the next coach’s contract so taxpayers are not stuck paying huge buyouts.