Governor Jeff Landry: "Emphatically, I am not picking a coach"

Louisiana governor Jeff Landry made headlines on Wednesday when he said LSU Athletics Director Scott Woodward would not hire LSU Football’s next head coach.

The press conference in Baton Rouge took the college football world by storm as reactions flooded in from around the country, with many questioning what it would mean for a program that is considered by many to be the best job opening on the market.

On Thursday, Landry shared his thoughts in front of a nationally televised audience during an interview on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show.

Landry doubled down on Woodward’s history of “bad contracts”, and he shed light on the hiring process and his hopes for LSU’s next head coach to sign a contract that is not guaranteed, but instead hinges upon results on the football field.

Governor Landry’s take on LSU Football’s next hire

One of the first things Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry shared was insight into the power dynamics in the Bayou State, specifically when it comes to filling a job like LSU Football’s head coach.

That starts with LSU’s Board of Supervisors, who Landry said will be tasked with appointing a search committee before settling on the choice for who becomes the head coach to follow Brian Kelly as the person in charge of the state’s biggest revenue earner.

“We’ve got a number of four-year universities in the state of Louisiana,” he said. “LSU has their own board, the Board of Supervisors, and it’s appointed by the Governor under staggered terms. So, I’m the one who appoints them, and they appoint the President and (Athletics Director). The decisions made at the University are really made by the board. It’s pretty much the same way it happens around the country.

“I know that’s how it happens in Texas, as well. The Governor is in charge of appointing the Board of Regents at Texas A&M and UT.”

When McAfee asked Landry if he would be involved in picking the next LSU head coach, his answer was clear.

“I’m not,” Landry said when asked if he’s picking LSU’s next head coach. “Emphatically, I am not picking a coach. That is not my job. The only reason I am really about that is this contract between the state of Louisiana and the state system and Brian Kelly leaves the taxpayers of the state with the bill. There is misinformation out there. They are saying taxpayers are not liable. They are not reading the contract.

“All I care about is the taxpayers of our state. That contract binds the state of Louisiana. If we have to pay $53 million, and somebody else doesn’t step up to foot that bill, the state of Louisiana has to foot that bill. That is in the contract.”

With Kelly’s $53 million buyout at the center of the discussion, Landry is pushing for the next LSU head coach to sign a contract that is based on results rather than guaranteed money.

“Let’s unpackage that,” he said. “There is a number of bad contracts that seem to have followed Scott Woodward.

“I am hoping we can create a contract with a great head coach at LSU that can be a template. Maybe that is what needs to break so somebody comes over here and we build a contract that is performance-based. I have no problem compensating these coaches, even at the level we are talking about, as long as we are winning.

“Legitimately, I think everyone is in agreement in the state of Louisiana that the next coach we hire will have a patently different contract. If that agent can’t see what is coming down the pipe … look, these big name coaches, they are big names because they win. What are they afraid of? If they win, they shouldn’t have to worry.

“Everyone who is in sports, and former coaches, have been consistently saying this. We are stepping on the can.”

Inside the viral press conference from Governor Landry

Landry had poignant words condemning Scott Woodward for his failed hires and saying that the current LSU athletic director will not be hiring the next LSU head football coach.

At his press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Landry blasted Woodward, the agents involved, and LSU for failing at this and leaving the state with a hefty $53 million to pay in the coming years to Brian Kelly who was fired on Sunday night after just three and a half years on the job.

“We are not going down a failed path,” Landry said. “This is a pattern. The guy that wrote that contract cost Texas A&M 70 something million dollars. We’ve got a 53 million dollar liability. We are not doing that again. I believe we’re going to find a great coach — maybe we’ll let President Trump pick it, he loves winners — I’m not gonna be picking the next coach, but I can promise you we’re going to pick a coach and make sure he’s successful. We’re going to make sure he’s compensated properly and we’re going to put metrics on it because I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country, then leaving the tax payers to foot the bill.”

With the coaching search hardly even in the beginning stages, LSU is still without a president and could likely be looking for a new athletic director before any progress is made with a new head football coach. there are several moving pieces throughout the state right now in the aftermath of firing Kelly, but one thing that Landry has made perfectly clear is that LSU athletic director Scott Woodward will not be in charge of making the final decision.

Landry regularly references Woodward’s hiring of Jimbo Fisher who was fired at Texas A&M and owed over $70 million — the largest buyout in college football history. Pair that with the failures of Kelly and it’s clear there will be someone else, or a group of people, in charge. Landry said the university’s Board of Supervisors would put a committee together to help find Brian Kelly’s replacement.

“I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach, hell I’ll let Donald Trump select it before I let him,” Landry said. “I don’t know [who it is], but the board of directors is going to form a committee and they’re going to find us a coach. Y’all reporters have to start looking into the people that represent these coaches, the agents. Woodward’s agent, Kelly’s agent, the Texas A&M agent, they’re all the same agent. This is ridiculous. Lawyers would be disbarred if they acted how these agents acted. It’s time for the NCAA to put in some guard rails for college sports.”