LSU announces departure of AD Scott Woodward; interim AD to lead coaching search
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LSU announced on Thursday night that it has parted ways with athletic director Scott Woodward, effective immediately.
The news was first reported earlier on Thursday evening. Woodward, who hired football coach Brian Kelly in 2021, had served as the LSU AD since 2019.
“We thank Scott for the last 6 years of service as athletic director,” Scott Ballard, chair of the LSU Board of Supervisors, said in a release. “He had a lot of success at LSU, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future. Our focus now is on moving the athletic department forward and best positioning LSU to achieve its full potential.”
LSU also confirmed that deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry would serve as the interim AD.
Ausberry, according to the release, will lead the department’s search for Kelly’s replacement.
That announcement by the school stands in contrast with what Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said earlier in the week, when he claimed that a committee set up by the board would lead the search for the next football coach.
Woodward came to LSU from Texas A&M in 2019. As the AD, he hired Kim Mulkey from Baylor to lead the LSU women’s basketball team the same year he hired Kelly. The following year, he hired Jay Johnson from Arizona to lead the LSU baseball program.
Johnson and Mulkey led their respective teams to national championships during the 2023 season. LSU baseball won another title earlier this year.
Woodward is a Baton Rouge native and an LSU alum.
Ausberry played linebacker for the school before beginning an administrative career that has spanned 3 decades. He first started working in the LSU athletic department in 1991 and has been at the school ever since.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
