Brady out as LSU coach

Feb 8, 2008 - 7:27 PM BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Two years after guiding Louisiana State to the Final Four, John Brady is out as coach.

The news was confirmed at a press conference Friday at which Brady wept as he spoke to reporters.

LSU athletic director Skip Bertman announced that assistant coach Butch Pierre would step up to coach the team on an interim basis until the rest of the season, starting with Saturday's game against seventh-ranked Tennessee, contrary to earlier reports that said Brady would coach one final game.

Bertman admitted it was a tough decision to fire Brady.

"He's a gamer, not a quitter, and he so badly wanted to right the ship that has fallen on some difficult times, particularly this year," he said.

"He's done some things that will be forever written down in the history books of LSU basketball"

Brady then took the podium for an emotional farewell.

"Like Skip said, I'm not a quitter," he said. "I'm too competitive for that, but I understand that decisions are made and you have to respect the people who make them. You don't always agree but you have to respect them."

It has been a major struggle this season for the Tigers, who are 8-13 overall, including a 1-6 mark in the SEC East. LSU has lost 17 of its last 23 conference games.

At one point this season, the Tigers lost eight straight games and had just seven scholarship players available.

Brady, 53, was in his 11th season at school after replacing Dale Brown. He compiled a 192-139 record with four NCAA Tournament berths.

The crowing achievement for Brady came in 2006, when the Tigers reached the Final Four for the first time in two decades. That squad was led by Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Tyrus Thomas, who are now in the NBA.

However, the Tigers went just 17-15 last season, failing to qualify for a postseason tournament.