Amid allegations that he influenced the decision to fire former LSU head football coach Brian Kelly, Gov. Jeff Landry said LSU’s athletic director will not be picking the university’s next head coach.
During an unrelated press conference on Wednesday, Landry said athletic director Scott Woodward — who hired Kelly, baseball head coach Jay Johnson, and women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey, among others — would not be involved in the hiring decision.
“I can tell you right now, Scott is not selecting the next coach,” he said. “Hell, I'll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it. I don't know. But the Board of Supervisors is gonna come up with a committee and they're gonna go find us a coach.”
The LSU Board of Supervisors — who are appointed by Landry — are not typically involved in head coaching hires. That job usually falls to the athletic director.
Landry justified the statement by saying Woodward has a history of hiring head coaches who get massive buyouts when they’re fired. Besides Kelly — who has a $54 million buyout — Woodward also hired Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher when he was at A&M. Fisher was fired in 2023 and had a $77 million buyout.
Landry said he only got involved in the head coaching decision because of the “terrible” financial decisions being made. He confirmed that he hosted a meeting at the governor’s mansion to discuss Kelly’s firing before it happened, but said it was “to talk about the legalities, to talk about the costs, to talk about who pays for it.”
In response to Landry’s comments, LSU Board of Supervisors chair Scott Ballard told Baton Rouge TV station WBRZ that the board was not aware of its ability to hire coaches.
“Well, then, I better get to it!” he told WBRZ as he was leaving a meeting.
LSU Athletics has not responded.
