Stephen A. Smith singles out Scott Woodward for Brian Kelly, Jimbo Fisher buyouts totaling $130 million

On Sunday, LSU fired head coach Brian Kelly. The school owes Kelly more than $53 million for his buyout, the second-largest in college football history behind former Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher. Oddly enough, current LSU athletic director Scott Woodward was responsible for hiring both Kelly and Fisher.

Woodward was the athletic director at Texas A&M from 2016-19. As an LSU alumnus, he took over the school’s athletic department in April 2019, and signed Kelly to a 10-year, $95 million deal in 2021. During Monday’s episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith ripped Scott Woodward for his back-to-back failed hires.

“Scott Woodward, we need a mug shot put on national television right now of that man’s face,” Smith said. “A $76 million buyout associated with a $54 million buyout? Ladies and gentlemen, that equates to $130 million. Two coaches hired by the same man are being paid not to coach anymore. I need to see a picture of that man because if that was a player, we be calling them out. The same applies to the athletic director.

“I’m sorry, Scott,. I’m quite sure you’re a very, very capable, man. I’m not advocating for you to be fired, but you owe somebody else some damn money because you should be giving some of your money back. How the hell do you justify that? Who gets to make those kind of mistakes? Who gets to do something like that? $130 million in two buyouts for two coaches not to coach anymore. I mean, my God, that’s bad.”

Woodward wasn’t solely responsible for the decision to fire Kelly on Sunday. School executives and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry were reportedly also involved in the expensive decision. It’s also worth noting Woodward wasn’t at Texas A&M when it fired Jimbo Fisher.

While Woodward hasn’t had much luck with his latest college football hires, he deserves credit for some other significant moves. Woodward hired LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey, who led the Tigers to a national title in 2023.

Moreover, Woodward hired LSU baseball head coach Jay Johnson, who has led the Tigers to winning two of the last three College World Series. On Sunday, Johnson released a statement in the wake of Kelly’s dismissal.

“When Coach Kelly arrived at LSU four years ago, we had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” Woodward said. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize, and I made the decision to make a change after last night’s game.”