Scott Woodward: “LSU is that place.”
Changes are happening across the board in college athletics, but one thing remains the same to Scott Woodward: LSU is the best place to be, and he will make sure the athletic department is ready to adapt. Woodward shared his thoughts with Jordy Culotta about transformations happening both at LSU and with college sports in general.
College athletics has transformed with NIL and the transfer portal, but Scott Woodward “relishes the change.” He “embraces it,” and he sees that LSU is in a prime spot to benefit. “I can't say that for everyone in the business because it is unsettling in a lot of ways, but for us change is a good thing. We're going to embrace it, and we're going to take advantage of it the best we can.” With a leader like this, LSU is in good hands.
The LSU athletic department is moving with momentum in all facets, and Woodward is confident the progress will continue. He views LSU as “an untapped gold mine” that is drawing the best from all sports. He credits Nick Saban and Mark Emmert with “changing the culture at LSU in the early 2000s.” Woodward acknowledges those years as pivotal because the school “could have gone down divergent paths” where “we could have gone to the lesser side of mediocrity in the SEC.” Because of Emmert and Saban, LSU is still “at the big boys’ table for frankly two decades, and there's no doubt that that's our place.”
Woodward understands his massive responsibility, and he says, “I’m just lucky to be the steward of this great enterprise.” He also discusses the state of conference realignment regarding the Big 12 and the Pac-12. Kim Mulkey and Jay Johnson came from both of those conferences, and Woodward explains why they picked LSU: “They're very smart, and they have a very futuristic view of things. They see what's happening in the SEC, and particularly in Baton Rouge, and they want to be part of this because we know there's going to be a lot of good things happening and a lot of growth going forward.”
Speaking of Jay Johnson, Woodward is enthusiastic with the way the LSU baseball program is coming together. Once again, he touts LSU as the place to be. He continues, “We stand on the shoulders of giants. What Skip Bertman built is phenomenal, and people want to be here.” Regarding the recent hire of Wes Johnson, new pitching coach, Woodward says, “You never know if people are ready to make a move or make a change. I think we're in a key position with that. Wes Johnson is a star in the business and one of the best pitching coaches out there. He wanted to be in Baton Rouge because of how special it is. We don't give ourselves enough credit because we're here and we're too close to it at times.”
Beyond new baseball hires, Woodward is impressed with how Johnson is managing the program. He says proudly, “Jay's got it rolling pretty good. I mean year one he loses two coaches to Power Five teams, and it's pretty impressive for what's happening and his ability to locate and to identify talent.”
Woodward is well practiced in the process of choosing the right head coach for a team, and LSU football needed the right person for the job after the 2021 season. Although he proclaims his affection for Ed Orgeron, Woodward is clear that a change in that position was “self-evident.” He elaborates, “As much as we love Coach O and what he does and how he does it, and that special year he gave us in 2019 which will probably go down as the greatest football team in the history of college football, it just wasn't going the way that we wanted it to go. We came to that conclusion, and that was one of those things that was hard, but it was absolutely necessary.”
Replacing such a personality and beloved figure may have seemed impossible to fans and players, but Woodward swung for the fences and landed Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly. Again, Woodward maintains that LSU’s allure attracted Kelly to Baton Rouge. “It goes back to what we have here and how special it is,” he says. “Where in the past couple of decades have three different coaches won national championships? Coach was loving where he was at Notre Dame and had a good situation, but he wanted to take it to that next level. He wanted what we have to offer here, especially in our league. He relishes competition whether it's Nick Saban or you name it in our league.”
While Kelly and his staff have been piecing together an impressive team through recruiting and the transfer portal, Woodward has enjoyed every minute participating in the recruitment. He finds joy in meeting new players and offering all that LSU has to them. He says it “goes back to when I was a kid. I remember I was working concessions at LSU, and I would see young couples bring their child there and just stare up at Tiger Stadium. I know what was going on. It was the aspiration that this kid would go to LSU and how special it was.”
Being on the inside and seeing those dreams come true is remarkable for Woodward. He continues, “That's why we're in this business, for these kids. I love seeing what it does to them. LSU changed me. It was a transformational place for me.” It’s personal for Woodward to meet each kid and their families because he can see their possible futures in their communities. He mentions former players that are now doctors, business people, educators, and sports personalities like Matt Mauck, Brady James, Booger McFarland, Marcus Spears, and Ryan Clark. “I just go back and forth through the names of guys I run into, and it just makes me smile. That's what's so rewarding about it, and you know that LSU and Louisiana take care of our own.”
Obviously, NIL has drastically altered recruiting, but Woodward is not fearful or reactive. He is “still worried more about concussions” than how NIL will affect college football. He goes on to say, “Anytime we have existential threats, which this one could or could not be, we just deal with it. It's just part of the game.” Woodward shares that he doesn’t “mind a lot of what's come out of this movement of doing more for the student athletes.” However, he does also acknowledge that it can get out of hand: “If it boomerangs a little too far, you got to swing it back.” He reminds his audience that it’s all about the student athletes.
“It's one of those things that we have to be very careful about because we don't want it to become an incentive to pay for play kind of thing. We want it to be another tool in what we do, whether it's a degree or an education or whether it’s taking care of someone while they're here or whether it's investing in their medical well-being. All that stuff costs money. Frankly it's here to stay, and we're going to embrace it and just hopefully not go down that bad path,” Woodward says.
In addition to NIL, the transfer portal has also revolutionized college athletics. Woodward believes the portal should be regulated for the good of the whole. He praises both the football and basketball staffs for utilizing the transfer portal to rebuild rosters. He also states, “I'm a traditionalist. I mean I’m 59 years old. I liked it the way it was. I liked when Pete Maravich was in the Cow Palace, and I liked watching Shaq and Mahmoud do their thing. We have to accept that things change, though, and we will use it to our advantage. Is it good for the greater good? I don't think so. We have to get some guard rails and figure it out in due time.”
Some much more enjoyable parts of the athletic director position have come to Scott Woodward recently with honoring LSU’s great basketball players: Seimone Augustus and “Pistol” Pete Maravich. Woodward is humble and declares that internal operations should be credited with these new statue announcements. He shares, “I couldn't be more happy for Pete and his family. Jackie's such a wonderful lady. It has been a long time coming. That statue was built. It's just a matter of getting it put up.” When it comes to the Seimone Augustus announcement, Woodward praises Kim Mulkey for making that call. He is honored by how emotional Augustus was when she got the news. “That's what you want, you know,” he shares, “because there's no two more special basketball players in Seimone and Pete that represent the greatness of the game. We’re not just a football school for sure.”
Speaking of basketball, the P-MAC is due for a facelift, and Woodward addresses that, too, with his discussion on the upcoming facilities assessment. He promises, “We're going to do it right. The Tiger Athletic Foundation will be in partnership, obviously. We funded a master plan study because I wanted to see what we needed. I just didn't want my opinion.” Woodward is careful because he’s “been a few places.” He continues, “We’re in that process of looking at it, and obviously, the P-MAC is 50 years old this year and probably needs some updating. We’ll be prudent.”
Scott Woodward is proud of LSU and confident that the pieces are in place to grow stronger amid the tumultuous changes occurring in the NCAA. Woodward “delegates a lot of that authority to the commissioner of the SEC” who represents the league with the NCAA. He sees issues everywhere, but also declares that everyone is involved. “Hopefully going forward we'll fix it, but it's a holistic view. Greg [Sankey] is in the middle of it. If I can help in any way, we will, but we'll always deal with it with two things in mind: is it good for LSU and is it good for the greater good of sport. We've got to really think about both those things going forward.”
It’s time to move forward and look ahead to the glorious football season. Woodward is excited about the primetime opener against Florida State at the Superdome and the home opener versus Southern. He shares, “Those Sunday night games and Labor Day weekend do a monster rating. It'll be good exposure not only for our programs, but for the university as a whole. I really look forward to that game.” LSU also will be facing the Southern Jaguars in Tiger Stadium for the first time. Woodward says, “We love each other, and they're an important part of the fabric of this community. It's finally about time that we've done something this special. I’m looking forward to having the Southern football team here, but to also have their fans and wonderful traditions like tailgating and their band, the Human Jukebox is so special. We can't wait.”
Joy Holden
