LSU Interim AD Given Full Authority To Hire Football Coach, Reveals Search Committee

Originally posted on LSU Tigers on SI | By Zack Nagy | Last updated Oct 31, 2025 1:58 PM ET

LSU interim athletic director Verge Ausberry will have full authority to make the next football hire in Baton Rouge with the decision-maker forming a committee as the search begins, he told reporters on Friday.

The former LSU linebacker has been tied to the university for more than 30 years where he now finds himself leading the athletic department following the news of Scott Woodward and LSU parting ways on Thursday night.

"We're going to hire the best football coach there is," Ausberry said on 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."

Ausberry emphatically stated that LSU "is not broken" during his Friday press conference with the Tigers ready to turn the page.

"This place is not broken; the athletic department is not broken. We win. I’ve been part of 18 national championships at LSU — six of them recently. I’ve been part of four national championship games, won three national championships," Ausberry said.

"I’ve been part of seven SEC championships, two as a player. I know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to win. And that’s our job — that’s our mission.

Ausberry has pieced together a search committee as the hunt for the next head football coach gets underway in Baton Rouge.

Scott Ballard: Chairman of the board
John Carmouche: Chairman of athletics
Ben Bordelon: Former LSU football player and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards
E.J. Kleeper, CEO of Our Lady of the Lake
Verge Ausberry: Interim Athletic Director

"The next chapter is this: we have to hire a football coach. We’re going to hire the best football coach there is. That’s our job," Ausberry said.

"We are not going to let this program fail. LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football. There are 12 teams that make it — it’s going to expand, and we have to be one of those. No substitutes."

It's a time of change in Baton Rouge, and with Ausberry now at the helm, all eyes are on the selection of the next head coach following Brian Kelly's departure.

This article first appeared on LSU Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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