SBJ College: How Scott Woodward Landed Back In Baton Rouge

A little nervous tonight. My son has his first umpiring assignment in 10U baseball. My advice to keep the games on time: “When in doubt, call ’em out.”

Here’s what is cooking on campus.

SCOTT WOODWARD RETURNS TO LSU

Before taking the LSU job, Woodward was Texas A&M’s AD

• Scott Woodward started his career in politics, opening a government consulting and PR firm, and later lobbying the state legislature on behalf of his alma mater, LSU. Those who know him say that Woodward crafted his career in college athletics the same way, lobbying people in power to get his point of view across. It’s hard to argue with his track record as he moves into the LSU AD job.

• Each step of Woodward’s path in athletics has been the result of aligning himself with the right people. He worked for then-LSU President Mark Emmert and developed such a strong relationship that he followed him to Washington, where he became the Huskies’ AD. There, he met another fast-rising university president, Michael Young, who moved from Washington to Texas A&M and later hired Woodward to join him in College Station.
  
  
• In this age of ADs who become the face of the athletic department, Woodward is more of a throwback, an old-school AD who prefers to stay under the radar and in the background, like most lobbyists. The only time that’s not possible is when he’s hiring a football or basketball coach, something he’s done perhaps better than any AD in the country. I still can’t figure out how he convinced football coach Chris Petersen to leave Boise State for Washington when no one else could pry him away.

• As for the departed Joe Alleva at LSU, most people don’t think he’ll be a high-level AD again. It seems like there was always some kind of drama during his administration. First, he tried to fire football coach Les Miles and was vetoed by the university president. A year later, Alleva succeeded in firing the winningest coach, by percentage, in school history. And that’s largely how he’ll be remembered. 

• Moving forward, most insiders believe Woodward’s first task will be managing the potentially messy situation with basketball coach Will Wade. If Wade is implicated in the FBI’s college basketball investigation, Woodward will find himself making a tough personnel decision in one of his first acts on the job. He told NOLA.com today that he needs to get up to speed on the case, “but always know … that Louisiana State University with its reputation and how we do things are the most important thing in what we do. Honoring that and protecting that is always at the top of mind in no matter what we do.”

BAYLOR WOMEN'S HOOPS TAKES A BOW

• It's good to be the champs. The Baylor women's basketball team gets a downtown parade in Waco tonight, complete with a championship ceremony in front of city hall.
  
  
• Fans are coming up with other creative ways to honor the squad as well. A local car dealer gifted coach Kim Mulkey a brand new 2019 Corvette earlier this week. Mulkey may have to make some room in the garage. This is the second time she has received such a gift following a title run. She took the new ride for a spin on Monday with her daughter, Lady Bears Associate Director of Operations Makenzie Fuller, riding shotgun. It's good to see the women's team get so much appreciation in Baylor.

GOLF CHANNEL GROWS COLLEGE GAME

• Golf Channel moved further into the college space this week with two nights of primetime coverage of the Western Intercollegiate from Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif. Golf Channel Exec VP/Programming & Partnerships Tom Knapp said the net had its eye on the event for a while, partly due to a strong relationship with host San Jose State. The tournament served not only as a warmup for next month's NCAAs in Arkansas, but also for an expansion into more college events down the line. Knapp said Golf Channel is close to adding another event to its schedule next year, as well as bouncing around ideas for 2021 and beyond. What makes the college space appealing? Knapp: "College sports is just different, and I felt it for three days. You feel the energy behind it."

SPEED READS

• Keep an eye on Kirby Smart and the Dawgs this Saturday. Georgia might be the only spring football game with a shot at eclipsing Nebraska's 85,946 attendance mark. In 2016, Smart's first season, Georgia had over 93,000. Last year they managed to top 80,000 with parts of Sanford Stadium under construction. 

• Want your daughter or son to live the glamorous life of a major college student athlete? Think about the Clemson baseball team. On Tuesday night, the Tigers lost an epic 20-inning battle at Georgia, playing six hours, 33 minutes in a game that finished at 1:35am. By the time Clemson’s bus made the 75-mile drive up I-85 North from Athens, Ga., it was 3:15 a.m. when the Tigers arrived back on campus. Oh yeah, they’re expected to be in class the next morning. Keep in mind that baseball is allowed 11.7 scholarships, so most of the players on that bus are on just a partial scholarship, if that.

• College Football Playoff officials already are deep in their planning for the 2020 national championship game. They were meeting earlier today with the local host committee in New Orleans at the downtown Marriott, one of two full staff meetings they’ll have this year. The next will be in November. Today’s agenda covered everything from the concerts and fan fests to ESPN operations, transportation, credentials, gameday specifics and much more. A dozen CFP officials spoke to the group of about 75 people, which included vendors and other planning partners like Infinite Scale.

Bill Hancock (l) and CFP COO Andrea Williams; CFP's Will Baggett (r) with Michael Flur

• Michigan State has two new partners from the Teall Capital portfolio. The Spartans have signed Dyehard Fan Supply to be the new merchandising partner. Earlier this week, Michigan State signed with Tailgate Guys, in which Teall has a minority stake. Teall Capital Founder & Chair Ben Sutton was bullish late last year when asked if Dyehard could grow into a rival for Fanatics. Sutton: "Somebody has to."

• $14 million -- Amount that Purdue is allocating every year to pay off its debt on the $65 million Football Performance Center, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier. It’s a big figure, and may hinder the athletic department’s efforts to upgrade Ross-Ade Stadium, which hasn’t had a significant makeover in 20 years. As AD Mike Bobinski put it, “We have zero capacity in our operating budget to take on additional debt.” 

• 123 -- Number of live gymnastics meets televised by ESPN networks during the 2018-19 season, according to the Washington Post. In 2014-15, that number was 51. Nine competitions this season were broadcast live on ESPN or ESPN2, more than every other year combined. Meanwhile, this weekend's NCAA championships for the first time will see four squads compete compared to six. Why the change? George Washington coach Margie Foster Cunningham: "ESPN is falling in love with our sport."
  
  
  

IN MEMORY

• SBJ’s Abe Madkour wrote a great tribute to our departed colleague Brandon McClung, a sports lover who courageously battled spina bifida to forge an independent life for himself. He went to West Virginia and I went to Appalachian State, so naturally I told him that he pulled for the wrong Mountaineers. But he was as loyal a friend as you could ever know. 

Enjoying this newsletter? We've got more! Check out SBJ Media with John Ourand on Mondays and Wednesdays for insights into all the latest news around the world of sports media.

Something on the College Beat catch your eye? A unique sponsor activation or fan engagement? A cool photo? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (msmith@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessdaily.com) and we'll share the best ones. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).