Vo lum e 130 · N o. 3
E s t. 18 87
T hu r s d ay, S e p t e m b e r 5, 2 019
IN THE KN O W Orgeron and Herman square-off
PHOTO BY CHRISTA MORAN
in Austin
BY BRANDON ADAM What happens in Austin between No. 6 LSU and No. 9 Texas this Saturday represents the culmination of a seasonlong coaching search and 36-hours of unbridled chaos that has been stretched into a three-year drama. There were lies, secret meetings, press conferences, phone calls and everything one can think of happens during a coaching search. Interim coach Ed Orgeron, Houston’s Tom Herman, Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher and North Carolina’s Larry Fedora were all vying for LSU’s full-time job. The drama reached a fever pitch at Kyle Field where many of the key pieces involved in Saturday’s game just happened to be all at once. The entanglement that spread across the country now retreats into Austin a little over 100 miles west of College Station where the drama hit its peak on Nov. 24, 2016. Monday, Nov. 21, 2016 Seemingly, Orgeron’s hopes of becoming LSU’s full-time coach fizzled when then sophomore running back Derrius Guice crashed down on top the Florida defensive line short of the goal line with no time remaining. After a very heated buildup to LSU and Florida’s rescheduled game following Hurricane Matthew, the Tigers lost 16-10 and were eliminated from Sugar Bowl contention. While LSU never set a deadline to hire a coach, a mid-December recruiting signing day was looming, and it was imperative to have a full-time coach in place. Losing a game against an inferior Florida team in the season’s final game at Tiger Stadium left a bad taste in many mouths and proved to many Orgeron wasn’t fit for the job. A change was needed. “We reported they were down to three candidates – Orgeron, Herman and Jimbo – and Jimbo was the favorite or who they might go after first, and I think I put in that story that date was going to be next Wednesday,” said Ross Dellenger, a reporter for Sports Illustrated who was the lead LSU reporter for The Advocate at the time. “So not the Wednesday before the thanksgiving game against A&M, but the next Wednesday was
Read on
page 2
see ORGERON, page 2
LSU’s misguided principles on display with end of transfer-fund policy BY THE REVEILLE EDITORIAL BOARD Scott Woodward’s tenure as LSU’s athletic director began as a breath of fresh air. His presence marked a departure from the well-worn road of Joe Alleva’s 11 years in the position. Woodward played up his Baton Rouge roots and took control of one of the nation’s most valuable athletic brands amid the turmoil of basketball coach Will Wade’s temporary suspension. Woodward sported his best purple and gold tie along with a Louisiana suit pin. He had the credentials. The Baton Rouge native had the Louisiana background. He seemed destined to finally push LSU past the vaunted rivals in Tuscaloosa. The enthusiasm brought on by Woodward dissipated as the air grew thicker and spring turned
to summer. Then, in late July, the new athletic director announced the re-evaluation of the seven-year old policy that transfers a portion of the athletic department’s surplus into the LSU General Fund. Meanwhile, the University faced a 3% budget shortfall. Last week, Woodward went one step further. He said the transfer-fund policy would most likely end after the 2019-2020 academic school year. Investing in University academics via the transfer-fund policy only stands to benefit Woodward’s athletic department. Being a well-funded, top tier research institution will aid in the recruiting process. An overwhelming majority of college athletes do not make a career out of sports. The student athletes themselves will benefit from stronger academics, renovated
buildings and a new library when they leave the comfy confines of the Cox Auditorium. LSU President F. King Alexander has remained quiet since Woodward’s press conference in July. Alexander used the opportunity to tout the Fierce for the Future campaign and to clarify that the campaign is not meant to devalue athletics. “Athletics isn’t declining,” Alexander told The Advocate. “It’s staying about where it has been in the past. The only difference is the aggressiveness that we’re going out there with the campaign to raise money on the academic side to make up for the years that we perhaps should have been doing both.” The conversation isn’t about athletics declining. It’s about growing academics and increasing investment in students. Alex-
ander vacated an opportunity to defend the academic institution he represents. The end of the transfer-fund policy does not signal the end of LSU’s financial troubles. It is short-term thinking that jeopardizes the University’s financial footing and just another example of how the University’s principles are misguided. Despite the budget shortfall, the University may be in its best financial situation in a decade, a testament to the poor state of higher education in Louisiana more than anything else. Enrollment numbers are up. The University welcomed its largest freshman class in school history, increasing tuition revenues. The fall 2019 freshman class has 7,700 students, only two years after that number sat under 5,000. The Fierce for the Future cam-
paign rolls on, reaching out to the LSU community for both athletic and academic donations. The University’s financial situation is precarious at best, though. Increased enrollment supplements the loss of state appropriations. The state’s higher education budget was slashed by 60% during Bobby Jindal’s eight years in the Governor’s Office. Though the budget has not been cut under Gov. John Bel Edwards, state appropriations are only a shell of their pre-2008 levels. University faculty did not receive a raise this year. Despite 3% merit raises in 2017 and 2018, faculty has only received raises in four out of the past eight years. With annual inflation at 2%, faculty essentially experience a pay cut in years without a raise.
see EDITORIAL, page 2