LSU Names New President, but Athletic Leadership Still in Question

At the end of last week, LSU was without a permanent university president, athletic director, or head football coach. 

On Tuesday, the Tigers named a new president in McNeese State president Wade Rousse. But questions about athletic leadership remain.

Some have been answered: Rousse will immediately join the head coaching search committee to replace Brian Kelly. Verge Ausberry, named interim athletic director last week after Scott Woodward’s abrupt departure, has full authority to lead that search. 

But new questions have emerged about whether Ausberry is the interim athletic director or the new permanent one. It also appears that Gov. Jeff Landry, who inserted himself into the coaching search last week, wields influence on the coaching search through Rousse.

In his first 24 hours after being voted in, Rousse appeared to flipflop on a decision to make Ausberry the athletic department’s permanent director. 

Just hours after being named president on Tuesday, multiple reports surfaced saying Rousse would name Ausberry the permanent athletic director. Then, on Wednesday, Ausberry reportedly sent a communication saying Rousse would name him the permanent athletic director.

Later in the day, however, Rousse indicated Ausberry may not be the permanent AD. “I’ll remove the interim [title] and then we’ll assess the situation,” he said in an interview with the Louisiana Illuminator. “I can’t make a very good decision after being on that—on the job for eight hours.” He then added: “I don’t know what permanent means versus removing the interim.” (Rousse also said he didn’t know much about Ausberry’s involvement in a Title IX scandal, for which Ausberry was suspended in 2021.)

Rousse also said on Louisiana radio the same day that Ausberry has full authority to lead the search for a new head football coach (Ausberry announced last week that he had assembled a search committee, including members of LSU’s board of supervisors, donors, and the new president). And, on Thursday morning, a “source from the LSU president’s office” told LouisianaSports.net that Rousse had “no plans” to conduct a search to replace Ausberry. “Athletics needs a stable hand at the helm, and that is Verge Ausberry.”

The other complicating figure in LSU athletics has been Landry, who inserted himself into the coaching search last week. Through Rousse, Landry will likely continue to weigh in on the selection process. Rousse has indicated he will support one of Landry’s ideas regarding coaching contracts.

Landry’s involvement began a few days after the school fired Brian Kelly. Landry said athletic director Woodward would not choose the next football coach. By the end of the week, Woodward was gone. The school then elevated Ausberry from his existing athletics position to lead.

Landry also criticized contracts that required big buyouts for fired coaches. He said LSU’s next coach will have a “patently different contract” than Kelly that should include performance-based incentives. 

Last Friday, however, during his introductory press conference, Ausberry said he was told not to be concerned with those comments, and that he was determined to do whatever it took to get the best coach for the Tigers. In other words: If a buyout is what’s necessary, they would go against the governor’s wishes and do it. 

But Rousse appeared to backtrack on that statement too, suggesting he was open to Landry’s idea of performance-based incentives rather than guaranteed salary. 

He added: “We all know the market’s the market. We are very determined to go find the absolute best coach there is to come take the best coaching job in America and come lead us to our next national championship.”