“This is LSU. We are not broken,” LSU interim Athletic Director Verge Ausberry said in his introductory press conference this morning.
LSU is battered, beaten, and embarrassed at a level we’ve not seen in decades - but not broken, and its pride remains intact.
In my lifetime, I can’t recall a time when the program was in such disarray.
The university currently has no full-time president, athletic director, or head football coach.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is making the program the subject of national mockery with his unhinged viral commentary about the situation.
“I’d let Donald Trump pick the next LSU Football coach before I let Scott Woodward pick him,” Landry said.
Following these comments, LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward was unceremoniously kicked to the curb Thursday night after firing Brian Kelly without notice to the Board of Supervisors and sticking LSU with a bill of more than $50 million.
Now you can add Woodward’s $6.8 million buyout to the pile, in addition to the buyouts of any football staffers not retained by the eventual new coach.
Making matters worse, there appears to be little structure or organization as LSU tries to rebuild its leadership from the ground up.
The governor has said taxpayers could foot the bill for Kelly’s buyout.
Yet this morning, LSU Board Member John Carmouche said just the opposite.
“Let me make it clear, the state and the taxpayers have never paid for a coach and never will,” Carmouche said.
Additionally, the governor has spoken publicly on the contract of LSU’s next coach, criticized the process of agencies with conflicts of interest, and struggled to determine who would actually be in charge of hiring the next coach at LSU.
While these are a mixed bag of truthful and untruthful statements, one thing is consistent with all of them: they hinder LSU’s ability to operate and lure in talented coaches and administrators - and should have been said behind closed doors.
In short, it’s a mess in Baton Rouge. To call LSU a dumpster fire in this moment would be like saying LSU’s running game has been a slight disappointment this year - a drastic understatement.
The LSU administration and Governor Landry have broken the No. 1 rule of college athletics: protect the brand.
What has transpired over the last six days transcends any loss on the field and legitimately impedes LSU’s ability to recover as a program. It’s brand-damaging.
How many talented coaches who may normally be interested in rebuilding one of the best jobs in college football are presently mocking the program? I’m not sure any of us want that answer.
As a proud third-generation alumnus myself, my heart aches for my alma mater in a way that’s difficult to describe.
LSU fans are rightfully outraged over the debacle and national disgrace that has transpired over the last six days. The LSU internet mob has lost its collective mind.
But that’s the good news.
The moment the rage of the fans subsides into apathy and acceptance is the moment LSU’s program has been terminally damaged.
And LSU interim AD Verge Ausberry gets that.
“This program cannot have apathy,” Ausberry said. “LSU has to be in the playoffs in football every year.”
Some of my favorite moments in LSU history have come amidst its lowest moments.
“We fightin’ Tigers. We don’t back down from anybody. If we got 11, we're gonna play.”
These were the words uttered by LSU wide receiver-turned-emergency-quarterback Jontre Kirklin after LSU’s 42-20 shellacking in the 2021 Texas Bowl.
Like LSU’s program currently, LSU’s team was in utter disarray for that game. Orgeron was fired, and only 39 healthy scholarship players suited up for that game.
It’s difficult to sound like a winner after taking a beating like that - but that’s precisely what Kirklin managed to do.
Battered, beaten, and embarrassed - but pride intact.
Moments where these words come to mind should stand out as special to you, because that’s where your mettle is tested.
Any casual fanbase will take pride in winning - that’s easy to do. It takes a special group to keep that pride together in moments of catastrophe.
And that’s exactly why I believe Brian Kelly is no longer the coach at LSU - no resilience in the face of adversity.
Now, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, LSU finds itself at a crossroads where it must rebuild itself from the ground up.
For LSU fans, administration, and alumni, the mission is clear: keep your pride intact and refuse to accept mediocrity.
Go finish this season in a manner the country respects. And go find the best men to lead this program into the future.
