For all the focus on the LSU football program, one of the school’s remaining national championship-winning coaches isn’t too thrilled with what’s happening in The Bayou.
LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey skipped her postgame press conference Thursday night following athletic director Scott Woodward’s ouster earlier in the night.
“She’s heartbroken,” assistant coach Bob Starkey said after a 121-41 exhibition win over Langston.
It’s been a wild week for the SEC school, which now includes two high-profile exits.
The school fired football coach Brian Kelly on Sunday amid a disappointing season despite a $54 million buyout clause.
It later came out that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry played a vital role in moving on from Kelly, which is unusual in college athletics.
With LSU lacking a full-time president, Landry oversees the school’s Board of Supervisors and they are the school’s top decision-making group.
Landry then further laid the groundwork for Woodward’s exit when he said he would not let the AD select the next coach, referencing how Woodward had been the athletic director at Texas A&M when the school hired Jimbo Fisher, who would receive a record $77 million buyout.
The governor reportedly had it “out for him” after clashing on issues, including their political beliefs.
“This is a pattern,” Landry said. “The guy here now that wrote that contract cost A&M $77 million. Right now, we have a $53 million liability and we are not doing that again. And you know what? I believe we’re going to find a great coach. Maybe we’ll let President (Donald) Trump pick it. He loves winners. … No, I can tell you right now Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach.
“Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select it before I let him do it.”
One day later, Woodward exited the school despite his buyout clause of more than $6 million.
One of Woodward’s best LSU moves in recent memory involved hiring Mulkey, who led the program to its last championship in 2023.
While she did not comment, LSU assistant Bob Starkey, who also worked with Woodward while at Texas A&M, praised the former top athletics official at the school.
“It made its way to the bench,” Starkey said of the news. “When we were making our Final Four runs in the early 2000s, Scott was working in the chancellor’s office and I got to know him then and he did a lot of things, through the support of chancellor (Mark) Emmert at the time that helped our program become relevant when we hadn’t been relevant before. We had an ear and a friend in the chancellor’s office, and then I was fortunate to work for Scott at Texas A&M where he did an amazing job. Trust me, I was there. Did an amazing job. Then I got to come here and got to work with him again. Forty years of collegiate coaching, I’ve worked for two phenomenal athletic directors, one was Skip Bertman, the other was Scott Woodward. Scott has a deep love for coaches and student-athletes and the people that work for him. He works incredibly hard to make sure we have the resources, he has a passionate love about this university and about this state. We, and me personally, are a whole lot better for him.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
