Copyright CBS Sports
LSU had an eventful week that thrust the athletic department into chaos. But after a week of turmoil, the new power structure at the school has begun to clarify. Back-to-back losses led to the firing of football coach Brian Kelly, which was followed by an attention-grabbing press conference from governor Jeff Landry insisting athletic director Scott Woodward would not be involved in the hire of Kelly's replacement. Woodward was then fired later in the week. All the while, LSU was still without a university president. This week, Wade Rousse left McNeese State to become LSU's new president and his first order of business was to elevate interim athletic director Verge Ausberry to the full-time position, sources told CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz. Ausberry played linebacker at LSU and has spent the past 24 years in the athletic department, including the last six as the executive deputy athletic director. His hire doesn't come without some controversy, as he was suspended back in 2021 for his role in improperly handling complaints of physical and sexual abuse levied against LSU athletes. The Politics of Purple and Gold: How Gov. Jeff Landry's power play took down LSU's AD -- and what comes next John Talty Landry's brash, boastful press conference in which he went after Woodward and Jimmy Sexton, the most powerful coaching agent in the business, made many wonder if the LSU job would be all that desirable to coaches given the apparent power vacuum at the school that the governor seemed more than happy to fill. A week later, with Rousse now in place as president, LSU seems determined to show some stability and order to tamp down those concerns about who was in charge of what in Baton Rouge. Ausberry's decades in Baton Rouge give him plenty of sway with other powerful figures at the school and plenty of support within the football program, which he's worked most closely with in his time in the athletic department. By moving quickly to get the school and athletic department's leadership vacancies filled, LSU can now begin crafting its plan for bringing in a new football coach who will come in knowing exactly what the expectations are in Baton Rouge. Making the College Football Playoff is a must and championships are the expectation. "We're going to hire the best football coach there is," Ausberry said last Friday. "That's our job. We are not going to let this program fail. LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football. There's 12 teams that make it. It's going to expand here. We have to be one of those teams at LSU. No substitute."
