Copyright Essentially Sports
You can tell LSU’s house has been missing a few bricks when even the interim AD starts talking about “alignment.” The Tigers’ athletic department has been rebuilding its leadership chain from scratch. On November 4, the school made it official. Wade Rousse, a Louisiana native who had been steering McNeese State, was named the new system president, while James Dalton from Alabama took charge as the Baton Rouge chancellor. It’s the first time since 2012 the school split the two roles and that move says everything about why Brian Kelly’s era ended in smoke. The real bomb, however, dropped when 104.5 ESPN released an exclusive interview on X between interim AD Verge Ausberry and Matt Moscona, revealing just how messy things had gotten behind the scenes. “Well, it’s important to any athletic department, especially LSU, that alignment means a lot and you have leadership. You don’t have leadership. You have a lot of boys there and it really really hurts you,” the AD admitted. He wasn’t sugarcoating anything. LSU’s coaching search was paralyzed by confusion over who even called the shots. That kind of dysfunction kills confidence across the board. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Verge Ausberry’s words cut deeper when you realize the fallout. “Talking to people out there, agents and and candidates and other people in the business,” he said. “They were always asking, ‘Who’s going to be the president? Who we report to? Who’s the AD? I’m the interim AD.’ So, you had to make them feel comfortable in what we were doing.” Imagine trying to pitch LSU as a stable powerhouse when your organizational chart looks like a fumble. The AD admitted flat-out, “Everybody has to be in alignment. Don’t have that alignment, then you’re really gonna have problems no matter who what coach you pick.” Now Wade Rousse and James Dalton have to do what Brian Kelly couldn’t – get everyone pulling in the same direction. The board calls it unity and alignment. LSU fans call it overdue. Either way, Baton Rouge just reset its compass. The question now is whether this new alignment will finally stop the Tigers from tripping over their own tail.
