HELP WANTED: LSU Head Football Coach … Apply Within To Search Committee

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU athletic department veteran of three decades Verge Ausberry has been working on a list of prospective new head football coaches for LSU since Sunday night.

On Thursday night, he got his dream job – LSU athletic director, though it has the “interim” title attached for now. He replaced Scott Woodward, who was fired on Thursday.

Memo to the next LSU football coach … Annual Playoff Appearances, period.https://t.co/8CPGjdui5t

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 31, 2025

And on Friday shortly after 8 a.m. at an introductory press conference, Ausberry announced his coaching search committee team of which he is the captain – Bollinger Shipyards CEO Ben Bordelon, LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Scott Ballard, Our Lady of the Lake Hospital CEO E.J. Kuiper, and LSU Board of Supervisors athletic committee chairman John Carmouche.

Ausberry is close to naming a fifth member to also serve under him.

“Those are the people who are going to be responsible for helping us find the next great football coach at LSU,” said Ausberry, who has been involved at varying levels in the last three coaching searches for Les Miles (2005-16), Ed Orgeron (2016-21) and Brian Kelly (2022-25). The first two won national championships. Kelly did not reach the playoffs in four seasons and was fired on Sunday.

Welcome to Louisiana Shakespearean University … LSU athletic director Scott Woodward gets the dagger 4 days after knifing football coach Brian Kelly.https://t.co/kT0otYNs6N

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 31, 2025

Ausberry, a New Iberia native, played linebacker on the 1986 Southeastern Conference champion Tigers under coach Bill Arnsparger, a 10-1-1 LSU team in 1987 and another SEC champion in 1988 before working for the Tiger Athletic Foundation and then the athletic department beginning in 1991. Bordelon, a Mathews native, was an All-SEC offensive tackle at LSU in 1996.

“So, my thing is I’m, we’re going to go out there together as a team,” Ausberry said.

Note the Freudian slip there – “I’m, we’re.”

This is Ausberry’s baby. His career could move beyond that “interim” title if things go smoothly and Ausberry makes an impressive hire on the surface. If that coach proves to be a home run hire, regardless of what he is at the time of the hire (see Jay Johnson), Ausberry, 58, could be LSU’s athletic director for the next 10 years or more.

But first, he is tending to his home base.

“In a lot of meetings and meeting with coaches,” he told Tiger Rag at mid-afternoon Friday. “On the phone with a lot of people.”

“Sometimes, in the midst of chaos, there is opportunity.”
-LSU interim football coach Frank Wilson:https://t.co/WNzEaTebNI

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 28, 2025

The high school football signing date is Dec. 3-5. The search may well pass those dates, but recruiting ace Frank Wilson is LSU’s interim football coach now since the firing of Kelly on Sunday. And so far, he has not lost any of the Tigers’ 17 commitments for the 2026 class.

Ausberry said he is not concerned with him getting the athletic director job just yet. At least, that’s what he is saying publicly. But this is clearly an audition.

“At this time, that’s not a concern right now,” he said. “Our concern is trying to get the best football coach we have here and make sure this department is stable. That’s my job. I’m not looking to do anything in the future from that. Right now, it’s stabilizing the department, making sure the coaches and executive team is OK with everything they do and they’re getting our support, and hiring a football coach.”

Still no comment from LSU or AD Scott Woodward on Governor Jeff Landry’s bombshell on Wednesday: “No, I can tell you right now Scott Woodward will not be selecting the next coach. Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select him before I let him do it.” https://t.co/HQfpbWjFpI

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 30, 2025

Ausberry was asked if the current state of affairs at LSU may hurt LSU’s perception as an attractive landing spot for prospective coaches. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry had a role in Woodward’s firing because of what he called a “terrible” contract for Kelly. Woodward gave Kelly a $100 million deal for 10 years with a $52.3 million buyout after four years. Landry said such a buyout will not happen again.

Meanwhile, LSU is without a president and only an interim athletic director.

“We’re LSU. My phone is still ringing,” Ausberry said. “A lot of candidates still want to come to LSU. It’s one of the best jobs in the country. It is the best job in the country at this time. And we’re going to find the right person, and I don’t see any problem with us getting the right person to be the head coach at LSU.”

Ausberry said no limitations have been put on what kind of contract he may offer a coaching prospect.

“I’ve spoken to the board members on the side of me right here, and other board members,” he said. “And our job, I was told, was to get the best football coach there is, and don’t worry about that at all. So, we’ll get the best contract and the best coach, and whatever it takes to get that person here, we will do.”

Ausberry came out swinging as he opened the press conference.

“LSU is not broken. We’re not going to let this program fail,” he said at the podium in the Lawton Room that is attached to Tiger Stadium.

“LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football,” he said while pointing his right index finger hard on the table. “There are 12 teams that make it. It’s going to expand here (to 16 in the near future likely). We have to be one of those at LSU. No substitute. We have to be talked about on ESPN and every channel. Talking LSU football – that is the way. This building here has to be successful, if we’re going to successful as an athletic department. It’s a measuring stick that we have here. We win.”