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LSU Tigers leadership doubling down on unrealistic expectations amid Brian Kelly and athletic director chaos

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Travis May | Last updated Oct 31, 2025 7:53 PM ET

The LSU Tigers continue digging themselves into a hole following the Brian Kelly firing this past week. It was bad enough that the team dropped to 5-3 on the season, losing their sixth game in the last 14 contests. Coach Kelly's massive buyout was another tough pill to swallow for the university – and the state of Louisiana apparently, according to Governor Jeff Landry.

It was already going to be difficult to hire the ideal candidate with the state of the program, the local government trying to interfere, and the firing of their athletic director. Now it might be even more difficult to convince the "best" coaching candidate to choose LSU as the new interim athletic director Verge Ausberry doubled down on the Tigers' unrealistic expectations this week.

LSU Tigers interim athletic director Verge Ausberry sets high expectations

Verge Ausberry, the new athletic director has tried his best to jump in and immediately rehab the LSU Tigers image, but it's not going well. He and the social team tried with an inspirational speech to the team and staff. They tried to talk about the good in the program and what their aspirations are plenty. Unfortunately, Ausberry's comments in his press conference this week just came off a bit tone deaf to the reality of today's college football:

"Next chapter is that we have to hire a football coach. We're going to hire the best football coach there is. That's our jobs. We are not going to let this program fail. LSU has to be the playoffs every year in football. There's 12 teams that make it. It's going to expand here soon. We have to be one of those at LSU. No substitute."

"LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football." - interim AD Verge Ausberry on the expectations for LSU's next football coach pic.twitter.com/RKjHrEQURv
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) October 31, 2025

It's great that Ausberry wants LSU to be an elite program. It's good to hear that he believes they're going to hire the "best football coach there is" to help get the Tigers back where they need to be. It is not reality to expect to make the College Football Playoff field every single season, "no substitute", as Ausberry said (or no matter what, which is what he was trying to imply).

That might not be what LSU fans want to hear, but in today's football, parity is real. Vanderbilt is 7-1. Indiana is 8-0. Georgia Tech is 8-0. When new teams temporarily rise from the ashes to become playoff contenders that means that losses have been redistributed elsewhere. This is not to say that LSU is going to stay bad. It's just that in a world where players can transfer and immediately play, NIL deals exist, revenue sharing is leveling the playing field, and the competition for talent is tougher than ever, always being an elite playoff team is going to be nearly impossible.

If that's the bar for the next coach then LSU fans, the administration, and everyone involved needs to be prepared to get disappointed with every single new hire. Aspiring head coach prospects for the Tigers who understand the new nature of college football might not like the sound of their potential athletic director making demands of every-year and immediate elite level performance that just isn't going to happen for virtually any program in this era. Hopefully LSU gets a bit better at damage control in the coming weeks, otherwise there's no way they're landing the candidate that they really want.

We’ll be back with more LSU Tigers coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports LSU Tigers , as LSU Tigers leadership doubling down on unrealistic expectations amid Brian Kelly and athletic director chaos.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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