By Hunt Palmer
The hunt is on for LSU’s next football coach.
On Friday, Board of Supervisors Chair Scott Ballard and board member John Carmouche tabbed Verge Ausberry interim athletic director in the wake of Scott Woodward’s Thursday night departure.
“Verge is the ideal person to lead this department through this change, and I want to be very clear, he has the full authority to do so,” Carmouche said. “That includes leading the search for our next head coach and hiring our next head coach.”
Ausberry has assembled a committee comprised of Ballard, Carmouche, Bollinger Shipyards CEO Ben Bordelon, FMOL Health President and CEO E.J. Kuiper and one more member yet to be named. That group will lead LSU’s search for its new coach.
“We’re going to hire the best football coach there is,” Ausberry said. “That’s our job. We’re going to go out there. 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.”
LSU is expected to name a new system president on Tuesday. Dr. Robert Robbins, former University of Arizona president; James Dalton, executive vice president and provost at the University of Alabama, and current McNeese State President Wade Rousse are the three finalists to fill the void left by William Tate who assumed the same role at Rutgers in the spring.
Ballard said the new president will have input on the hire, but the wheels are already in motion.
“We’re not slowing down for that. Verge is going to move forward and knows what he needs to do. But, depending on how that works out and when the new president starts, the new president will absolutely have input and hopefully hit the ground running. Depending on what the choice is, we’ve got to also respect that they’ve got to unwind some stuff, as well.”
There is also no timeline for a permanent athletic director to be hired, according to Ballard.
“The full concentration is to find a coach, find the best coach, period,” Ballard said. “That process has already started as Verge said with the team, the athletic department. (A new AD) truly is not something we’re even going to address until get that done.”
Ausberry is an LSU lifer. He’s worked for the university for 24 years following a football career as a student. He’s worked in compliance, been an academic advisor for student-athletes, been named Executive Deputy Director of Athletics and Executive Director of External Relations for the University.
He’s handled football scheduling and worked across many LSU athletic programs over nearly three decades.
“I want our fan base to know one thing. LSU is not broken. LSU’s athletic department is not broken. I think we have the best athletic department in the country. I think we have the best staff in the country. The executive team is second to none. I put them up against anyone. They’re the best, and they will get the job done.”
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