LSU has long been viewed as one of the best jobs in college football. Rabid fan base. A state full of blue-chip prospects who grew up wanting to play for the Tigers. Three national championships this century. Pretty much a coach’s dream.
And lo and behold, the LSU coaching job is currently vacant after the school fired Brian Kelly on Sunday. Forget Penn State, forget Florida, forget any other school that might realistically open. This is surely going to be the most coveted job of the cycle, right?
Well, it would have been. But with one unhinged press conference moment on Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry may have scared off all of the top candidates.
In the annals of crazy SEC coach hiring stories (Mike Price’s infamous night out, Bobby Petrino’s secret plane ride, Gene Chizik getting booed at the airport), this one earns a top-four seed for absurdity. Standing behind a lectern at the state capitol with a sign that said “Protecting the Most Vulnerable” — the news conference was supposed to be about food stamp payments — the governor of Louisiana was asked a question about LSU’s coaching search.
He proceeded to publicly neuter the school’s athletic director, Scott Woodward. The guy who hired Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M and Kelly at LSU, recipients of the two largest contract buyouts in college football history.
The Governor’s got thoughts on LSU’s next coach… pic.twitter.com/d7UXPJitbM
— The Triple Option (@3xOptionShow) October 29, 2025
“I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach,” Landry said. “Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it.”
Oh, really? Why is that, Mr. Governor?
“The guy (Woodward) that’s here now that wrote (Kelly’s) contract, cost Texas A&M 70-something million dollars. Right now, we’re on the hook for a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again.”
So, who exactly will be hiring the next coach, given LSU doesn’t currently have a president?
“The Board of Supervisors is going to come up with a committee, and they’re going to go find us a coach,” he said.
Interesting. And who exactly serves on the Board of Supervisors? Wait, I can just Google that: “The membership of the board is composed of two members from each congressional district and three members from the state at large, appointed by the governor with confirmation of the Senate.”
You don’t say?
Later Wednesday, a reporter for WBRZ-TV asked Scott Ballard, chair of that Board of Supervisors, if he had a comment on the coaching search his board is apparently running. He shook his head before replying, “No, I didn’t know that.”
LSU Board of Supervisor’s chair Scott Ballard reacts to Governor Jeff Landry’s statement regarding the search for the next head LSU football coach.
to learn more: https://t.co/BbLDa8zAl7 pic.twitter.com/KM8h0K2OJ6
— WBRZ News (@WBRZ) October 29, 2025
Coaches often talk about the importance of alignment among university leaders when it comes to building a program. Everyone from the board to the president or chancellor to the athletic director to the boosters to the academic services department needs to be in absolute lockstep, like at Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and elsewhere.
LSU’s leadership is so badly misaligned that the Landry news conference clip was probably ricocheting around group chats in every football building in America on Wednesday.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is presumed to be a top target for both Florida and LSU. Can you imagine his thought bubble while watching that clip on Twitter? (Because he’s always on Twitter). So you’re telling me they don’t have a president, and the AD is not going to be the AD much longer. So, my boss would be … the governor?
Not that his agent Jimmy Sexton won’t still use that school as leverage when negotiating the ginormous extension Kiffin is going to get from Ole Miss.
Oh, about Sexton. The guy who represents half the coaches in the SEC and is a de facto member of these schools’ search committees. The governor took a shot at him, too.
“Here’s what y’all reporters need to do. Y’all need to start looking at who represents these people. Like these agents,” Landry said. “You know what’s interesting? If I’m not mistaken, Woodward’s agent, Kelly’s agent, (Fisher’s) agent — they all have the same agent.”
He is in fact mistaken. Sexton represents Fisher, while Trace Armstrong represents Kelly. But good job alienating both of them right before trying to land their clients.
The governor, it should be noted, was already known for meddling in LSU football. He was so determined to reestablish the disbanded Death Valley tradition of having a live tiger on the field that he had one imported from Florida for last year’s Alabama game. After LSU lost, he joked, “Our live tiger, unfortunately, disappointingly, was the only tiger who showed up Saturday.”
And on Sunday, when LSU officials were figuring out whether or how they could pay Kelly’s buyout, they met to discuss the matter at the governor’s mansion.
“I can promise you,” Gov. Landry said Wednesday, “we’re going to pick a coach, and we’re going to make sure that coach is successful. And we’re going to make sure he’s compensated properly.”
Fair enough. But you do realize the coach also has to pick you guys? Where do you plan to conduct your interviews? The Baton Rouge Zoo?
There will be good coaches who want to come to LSU because they badly want to coach in the SEC and can make a lot more money than they do now. An overbearing governor probably isn’t going to keep Tulane’s Jon Sumrall or Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield at their respective Group of 5 jobs if they get that call.
But anyone who has other options, or has a perfectly good Power 4 job already, would be wise to steer clear of LSU’s own Ringling Bros. Circus. Because you can see it now. It’s fourth-and-goal against Alabama. Tie game. Fourth quarter. Just then, the call comes in from the governor’s suite at the 50-yard-line.
“I can tell you right now. That coach is not selecting the next play.”
