Delly with a behind the scenes article on the LSU coaching search

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LSU athletic director Scott Woodward stood in a room under Tiger Stadium’s north end zone, watching Oklahoma State mount a second-half comeback against rival Oklahoma just minutes after his own Tigers upset Texas A&M in their regular-season finale.

He wasn’t alone. Football staff members filtered in and out of the room, everyone glued to the television for very different reasons. Most of them had a vested interest in the game’s outcome. If the Cowboys beat the Sooners, they thought, it might open the door for Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley to replace Ed Orgeron at the helm.

Woodward didn’t hold such a view. Unbeknownst to many in Baton Rouge, he had already targeted his finalist for the job days earlier. While the city and LSU community buzzed about Riley, a small group of people knew the truth. If there were ever any discussions with Riley, they had ended. Riley was not interested in the job and had conveyed such to Oklahoma administrators, industry sources say.

Days before last weekend’s regular-season finale of games, Woodward headed into the final stretch of his six-week search, juggling communication between what appeared to be his final two candidates. He made one last call to close friend and A&M coach Jimbo Fisher to gauge his interest before entering more serious discussions with Trace Armstrong, the agent for Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.

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“We had already basically made the deal in terms of … [Kelly] was going to come here,” says one prominent LSU official with knowledge of the final days of the search. “It was jaw-dropping to me to see the things [that were] written. It was completely wrong.”

Because of that false hope, many LSU fans were shocked and dismayed when Riley denied interest. “I’m not going to be the next head coach at LSU,” he told reporters after the Bedlam loss. “Next question.”

Meanwhile, Woodward quietly walked out of Tiger Stadium after watching Oklahoma State’s game-winning defensive stand, saying little to anyone that night, aside from a line he repeated to dozens of people over the final week of his coaching search. “We’ve got someone,” sources recall him saying, “and you’re going to be happy about it.”

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Just two years removed from their last title in 2019, the Tigers are 11–11 over the past two seasons. Woodward’s goal at the start of the search was to get a “big, proven fish,” says one person close to the AD. Early in the search process, he and a small committee of administrators identified six or so candidates, a who’s who in the sport: Fisher, Franklin, Kelly, Tucker, Riley and NFL coach Matt Rhule. Woodward reduced the list to two or three finalists who were seriously interested in coming to Baton Rouge.

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“[Kelly] was willing to dance,” says one LSU source, “so we kept working it.”

Kelly was actually open to dancing with several programs. When Florida’s job opened, its officials were alerted that Riley and Kelly were willing to move, sources tell SI. The Gators were already set on their No. 1 target and the coach they eventually hired, Napier. During the final week of the regular season as Oklahoma State was preparing to play Bedlam, at least one AD received an email from a marketing agent representing Mike Gundy, saying he was interested in the job.

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“A lot of people are disappointed we didn’t get Lincoln Riley,” says one prominent booster at the school. “Scott went after his man. He was focused on him. He went out and got the best. That’s why LSU hired Scott.”

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