LSU selected Verge Ausberry as its 11th athletic director in early November. A few weeks later, LSU came out on top in the dramatic contest between the nation's top football programs to land Lane Kiffin as head coach.
Ausberry rarely takes time for media appearances. But on Thursday, he joined Newell Normand for a broad, honest discussion that spanned topics from the changing tide of college sports in the wake of NIL to the challenge of managing a group of charismatic winners such as Kim Mulkey, Jay Johnson, and Lane Kiffin, and others.
The buzzworthy topic right now is Lane Kiffin's moves in the NCAA transfer portal. Ausberry has been up close as Kiffin makes these decisions, and he likens it to a war room.
"It’s no different from the Saints war room in New Orleans. It’s the same thing. So many analysts and coaches and assistant coaches," Ausberry tells Normand. "They’re monitoring the boards, monitoring teams through the year. They watch a lot of film on different players.”
In the past week, Kiffin has brought on 3 QBs from around the country, including Sam Leavitt, who is expected to start for LSU this coming season.
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“You've got about 15,000 players in the transfer portal; you try to get it down to the 85 guys you need on your field. A lot of people complain about it, but there’s opportunity in chaos,” Ausberry explains. “And I think this is a great opportunity for us at LSU. We’re at the forefront of this deal. The LSU brand is one of the strongest out there in the country."
As the nation pays close watch on LSU, Ausberry recognizes the importance of monitoring activity across programs, on and off the field, to influence his decision-making.
“I make it a point that I go to practices, follow a lot of teams, visit all of our coaches, and go to a lot of events. A lot of times, I’m watching what’s going on from the sidelines, on the bench. I take my eye off what’s happening on the court to watch the body language of coaches and athletes; it’ll tell you a lot.”
“We’re in the entertainment business. I tell people, ‘there’s a lot of sideshow.’ There are a lot of different personalities," Ausberry continues. “When you talk about a Kim Mulkey, a Jay Johnson, a Lane Kiffin, a Jay Clark, a Dennis Schaefer, a Garrett Runion— all those are national championship coaches. But they have great personalities. I like those coaches. I like to have an open dialogue with them.”
As he fashions unique bonds with each coach, Ausberry expresses how he sees his goal to get every program as close to perfection as possible.
“You can’t always say yes, yes, yes to everything they come up with, but at least you get a sense for where they want to be," Ausberry says. "My job as an executive is to help them get closest to what they need to get.”
Balancing demands from all angles
As the head of one of college football's most storied and wealthiest brands, there’s constant pressure to please a variety of stakeholders. Ausberry explains that between the revolutionary flexibility provided by NIL and the growing influence of social media, demands for change have become more severe and capricious.
“When you’re an administrator, you have to be careful. I tell people, everybody wants somebody fired. When you fire somebody, it’s not a good thing," Ausberry warns. "When you like firing somebody, something’s wrong with you as an administrator and a leader.”
Ausbery explains that dramatic change requires forethought and that good decisions tend to reveal themselves when the time is right.
“Our job is to watch, evaluate, and assess. You know when your program needs to change. The athletes in the program, and your fan base doesn’t have the same excitement," Ausberry says. "You can tell, this program isnt going anywhere. Make the change.”
However, if directors get too trigger-happy, it can lead to decades of turmoil.
"You have to be very careful when youre letting coaches go," Ausberry explains. "You have to make sure it's the right thing at the right time. I know schools that have let people go over and over again. You have 5-6 coaches on payroll, and it takes you 20 years to get your program back to where it needs to be.”
It comes down to timing. And as the world saw in November, Ausberry timed the firing of LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly just right.
“You have to make sure that when you fire your coach, you can get the person you want to get. Everybody thinks everybody wants to come to their institution,” Ausbery says. “Getting a coach is very hard. LSU, we have the best coach on the market. The best coach there was. The coach that teams know would compete for a national championship. He was the best. He was the #1 guy. And you noticed, once we hired Kiffin, the dominoes started falling all across the country.”