Scott Woodward is currently the

athletics director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(LSU). Woodward was previously director of athletics at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

from 2008 to 2016 and at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

from 2016 to 2019.

Early life, education and career

Woodward is from

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

and is a 1981 alumnus of

Catholic High School Catholic schools are parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school system. In 201 ...

in Baton Rouge. He attended college at

earning a bachelor's degree in political science in 1985. After graduating from LSU, Woodward was a co-owner of a government and public relations firm in Baton Rouge that provided strategic policy direction to Fortune 500 corporations. In 2000, Woodward was hired by LSU Chancellor

Mark Emmert Mark Allen Emmert (born December 16, 1952) is the former president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He was the fifth CEO of the NCAA; he was named as the incoming president on April 27, 2010, and assumed his duties on Nov ...

to serve as the director of external affairs at Louisiana State University. The position entailed being a liaison between LSU and government and corporate officials and acting as an advisor to Chancellor Emmert on policy and government appropriations. At LSU, Woodward also served as the Chancellor's Representative to the Athletic Department. He held these positions at LSU until leaving for the University of Washington in 2004. Woodward was hired by the new president of the University of Washington, Mark Emmert, for the position of Vice President of External Affairs. He served in this role until 2008.

Athletic director career

Washington

In January 2008, Woodward was named the full-time director of athletics at the

. He had been both acting director of athletics and Vice President of External Affairs since the previous director of athletics, Todd Turner, resigned in December 2007. In Woodward's first year at Washington, the athletic department budget faced a $2.8 million shortfall causing the elimination of both men's and women's swimming programs. Also during his first year, the football team went 0–12 and Woodward fired head coach

Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005–2 ...

in October 2008. Woodward's tenure with Washington will be noted for hiring head football coach

Steve Sarkisian Stephen Sarkisian (; born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB Genealogy – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". – ''Dallas Morning News''– December 31, 1996. is an American football coach and former player ...

and later luring

Chris Petersen Christopher Scott Petersen (born October 13, 1964) is an American former college football coach. He was the head coach for eight seasons at Boise State University; Petersen guided the Broncos to two BCS bowl wins in the 2007 and 2010 Fiesta ...

from

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

along with a $282 million reconstruction of

Husky Stadium Husky Stadium (officially Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is an outdoor American football, football stadium in the Northwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Wa ...

that was completed in 2013. Washington's athletic budget stabilized during his tenure with revenues boosted in part by the Pac-12 Conference's television-rights deals and by naming-rights deals the athletic department signed with Alaska Airlines. In addition, contributions to the athletic department more than doubled, from about $12.6 million in 2008 to $26.6 million by 2013. During Woodward's tenure at Washington, the Huskies won seven national championships in the sports of men's and women's crew, women's cross country and softball.

Texas A&M

In January 2016, Woodward was named director of athletics at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. During his tenure, Woodward helped build the profile of Texas A&M. He hired two high-profile coaches in

Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach. He most recently served as the head football coach at Texas A&M Aggies, Texas A&M from 2018 until 2023. Prior to that, he led Florida State Seminoles, Fl ...

from

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

to be the Aggies’ football coach in December 2017 and he hired

Buzz Williams Brent Langdon "Buzz" Williams (born September 1, 1972) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the University of Maryland. He previously served as head coach at Texas A&M from 2019 to 2025, Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2019, Marq ...

from

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

to be Texas A&M's new men's basketball coach on April 3, 2019. In addition, a new track and field stadium and softball stadium were built. During Woodward's tenure at Texas A&M, every sports team participated in postseason play. The Aggies won nine SEC titles including baseball, men's basketball, soccer, women's swimming and diving (three times), men's tennis (twice) and men's outdoor track and field.

LSU

On April 18, 2019, LSU alumnus Woodward was named

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

athletics director, replacing Joe Alleva. In 2021, he hired former Baylor head women's basketball coach

Kim Mulkey Kimberly Duane Mulkey (born May 17, 1962) is an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 2021, she has been the head coach for Louisiana State University's LSU Tigers women's basketball, women's basketball team. A Pan-American ...

. He then hired the up and comer coach Jay Johnson from Arizona to coach the Tiger baseball team. Following the departure of

Ed Orgeron Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961), nicknamed "Coach O", is an American former American football, college football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he held from midw ...

as head football coach, Woodward led the search that led to the hiring of Brian Kelly from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

after the 2021 season.

Personal life

Woodward is married to Nanette Dicharry and has two stepsons, Michael and Josh Evans.

References

External links

LSU bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Scott Living people LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers athletic directors Texas A&M Aggies athletic directors Washington Huskies athletic directors Louisiana State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)