Report: Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry suggested firing AD Scott Woodward to LSU board members, donors

Turns out the ongoing feud between LSU athletic director Scott Woodward and first-term Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry goes back further any previously known. And it reportedly reached its crescendo during a Sunday meeting between Landry and LSU’s Board of Supervisors that resulted in the firing of fourth-year Tigers head football coach Brian Kelly.

On Wednesday, Landry boldly declared Woodward, in his seventh year as the Tigers’ AD, would have no part in selecting LSU’s next head coach in a viral press conference from the state capitol. A day later, Yahoo! Sports insider and On3 contributor Ross Dellenger revealed Landry called for Woodward’s firing alongside Kelly during a secret meeting held Sunday inside the Louisiana governor’s mansion with select LSU board members, boosters and university administrators — not counting Woodward.

According to Dellenger, Landry has long held a personal vendetta against the current LSU AD. That reportedly reached its breaking point after Woodward reportedly refused to re-hire former LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade last Spring.

“He’s got it out for him,” a top Louisiana political figure with knowledge of their relationship told Dellenger. “This governor picks fights and he never forgets a slight.”

Woodward fired Wade in March 2022 after LSU was served with an NCAA Notice of Allegations for alleged rules violations committed by Wade related to the infamous FBI probe into corruption inside college basketball. Wade was caught on tape promising a “strong-ass” offer to then-recruit JaVonte Smart during a wiretapped conversation orchestrated by the FBI in 2017. A year after his dismissal from LSU, Wade was hired at McNeese State and went on to win 50 games across two seasons in neighboring Lake Charles, La.

Wade was subsequently hired at NC State in March of this year. He is entering his first season leading the Wolfpack men’s basketball program.

Landry’s feud with Woodward goes deeper, according to Dellenger, and involves both of their political connections throughout the state of Louisiana. And after Woodward made the decision to part ways with Kelly earlier Saturday, Landry was reportedly “angry enough about (Kelly’s reported $53 million) buyout figure that he delayed any announcement or finalization of the decision until that gathering at his mansion,” according to Dellenger.

While LSU is reportedly willing to pay Kelly his regular monthy installments of $800,000 for the time being, negotiations regarding Kelly’s buyout continue with no long-term resolution in place, per Dellenger. In the meantime, LSU’s 14-member Board of Supervisors — who are appointed by the Louisiana governor — have yet to follow through with Landry’s request to fire Woodward.