The Washington Nationals are set to go outside the box with their reported managerial hire. 

The team will hire 33-year-old Blake Butera as their new skipper, per multiple reports. Butera would become the youngest person to manage in the big leagues since 1972.

Frank Quilici was also 33 years old in his first season as manager of the Minnesota Twins. 

Butera had previously been the senior player development director for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has named to that role in October 2023 after spending four seasons managing in the minor leagues. 

In his first season as manager in the minor leagues, he was just 25 years old. Over those four seasons, he had a 258-144 record with four first-place finishes. In Butera’s last two seasons managing Low-A Charleston, he won league championships and went 170-82.

Butera transitioned to coaching after spending two seasons as a player in the Rays’ minor league system. Across his two seasons in the minors, he had a .235 batting average.

BLUE JAYS ONE WIN FROM WORLD SERIES TITLE AFTER TREY YESAVAGE’S DOMINANT GAME 5 PERFORMANCE

Blake Butera (10) of Team Italy poses for a photo during the Team Italy 2023 World Baseball Classic headshots at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, on March 4, 2023. (Mary DeCicco/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

He was drafted out of Boston College in the 35th round of the 2015 draft. Butera played four seasons at BC and was the team’s captain. 

The Nationals fired manager Davey Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo in July. The pair had helped lead the franchise to a World Series title in 2019. 

Hudson Valley Renegades manager Blake Butera poses at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, New York, on June 12, 2019. (Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal via IMAGN)

Martinez had a 500-622 record across nearly eight seasons at the helm. Interim manager Miguel Cairo had a 29-43 record after Martinez was fired. 

The Nationals hired former Boston Red Sox general manager Paul Toboni in September to replace Rizzo. They hope the combination of Toboni and Butera can help lead the Nationals back to the World Series. 

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Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared Wednesday that LSU athletic director Scott Woodward would be stripped of his authority in the school’s search for its next head football coach.

LSU is pursuing a new football coach after deciding this week to part ways with Brian Kelly. Woodward announced Kelly’s departure on Sunday, one day after the Tigers’ 49-25 loss to Texas A&M. 

Kelly left Notre Dame after the 2021 season and ultimately spent fewer than four full seasons in Baton Rouge.

“We had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” Woodward said in the announcement. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize, and I made the decision to make a change after last night’s game.”

LSU continues to finalize Kelly’s $54 million buyout, a figure that Landry has criticized.

“We are not going down a failed path,” Landry said Wednesday during a news conference. “The guy that’s here now that wrote that contract cost Texas A&M $77 million. Right now, we’ve got a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again.”

The $77 million figure Landry mentioned was a reference to former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, whom Woodward hired and whose contract negotiations he oversaw. According to multiple reports, private donors could be tapped to cover some of the costs of Kelly’s buyout, which could be further offset if Kelly lands another coaching job. 

Woodward has served as LSU’s athletic director since 2019. The school paid Ed Orgeron a buyout of more than $17 million following his dismissal in 2021.

LSU football head coach Brian Kelly, right, talks with LSU athletics director Scott Woodward before the game at Williams-Brice Stadium, in Columbia, S.C. (LSU Athletics/University Images via Getty Images)

“No. I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting the next coach,” Landry said. “I’ll let [President] Donald Trump select him before I let him do it.”

‘FORCE THEM TO TURN DOWN $15M’: THE 4 CALLS LSU WILL MAKE FOR ITS NEXT HEAD COACH

The Republican governor added: “The Board of Supervisors are going to come up with a committee, and they’re going to find us a coach.” Members of the board or appointed by the governor.

Fox News Digital contacted the LSU athletic department for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly stands on the sideline during a game against Vanderbilt, Oct. 18, in Nashville. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Landry made it clear that the Tigers’ next coach would be “compensated properly.” He did, however, call for placing “metrics” on the deal.

“I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country,” the governor said.

Landry also confirmed that he participated in talks about a coaching change leading up to Kelly’s removal.

“My role is about the fiscal effect of firing a coach under a terrible contract,” he said Wednesday. “All I care about is what the taxpayers are going to be on the hook for.”

Despite LSU’s efforts to boost funding to pay transfer portal players, Kelly largely failed to meet expectations of competing for a national championship.

LSU is currently on a bye week; Alabama hosts the Tigers on Nov. 8.

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A large group of former UCLA football players sent a letter to chancellor Julio Frenk earlier this month asking for besieged athletic director Martin Jarmond to be replaced “to reestablish the university’s commitment to excellence, both on and off the field.”

The 64 players, who represent multiple eras of UCLA football spanning coaches Bob Toledo to Chip Kelly and include several who went on to play in the NFL, wrote to “express deep concern with the current direction of UCLA Athletics under Martin Jarmond. Despite the resources, history, and opportunities at his disposal, Mr. Jarmond has not demonstrated the level of leadership or vision consistent with UCLA’s proud legacy. Rather than building on the foundations of greatness established by those before him, his tenure has fallen short of advancing UCLA to its rightful place among the nation’s premier programs.

“UCLA deserves an athletic director who understands that this role is not merely about administration, but about stewardship of a legacy — one rooted in excellence, historic achievement, and national leadership. Unfortunately, Mr. Jarmond has not embodied these values, nor has he positioned UCLA Athletics to rise to the standard its history demands.”

The letter went on to call for new leadership, saying it was part of a movement “bigger than any one of us. Former players have joined forces — through countless calls, texts, and meetings — to push this cause forward. We are united in our commitment to protecting the proud legacy of UCLA football and athletics.”

In a statement to The Times, Frenk said the university will continue to stand behind Jarmond: “At a top university like UCLA, a successful athletics program plays a powerful role in building community and strengthening connections. We deeply value the views of our Bruin alumni on how to maintain and elevate our legendary athletics program across all sports. Athletic Director Jarmond has UCLA’s support, and we will continue to work with him to build a successful program that embodies the greatness of Bruins, on and off the field.”

Jarmond has come under fire since the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster after only 15 games illuminated the athletic director’s stewardship of the football program. Jarmond’s refusal to fire Kelly before Kelly abruptly left in February 2024 to take a job as offensive coordinator at Ohio State led to the whirlwind hiring of Foster, a position coach whose deficiencies as a head coach were on full display while posting a 5-10 record that included an 0-3 start this season.

Others have since criticized Jarmond for a broad range of shortcomings, including an insufficient response to leaked donor data, lowered expectations for success involving a once-proud football program and carte blanch spending that has led to staggering athletic department deficits.

A petition seeking Jarmond’s removal or resignation garnered 1,462 signatures and a mobile billboard truck circled Westwood with messages such as “UCLA Football Deserves Better Fire AD Martin Jarmond” and “$7 Million Buyout for UCLA’s AD? Failure Never Paid So Well.”

Some have questioned why Jarmond was granted a contract extension in May 2024, at a time when UCLA was transitioning from outgoing chancellor Gene Block to Frenk. According to the terms of that extension, Jarmond would be owed roughly $7.1 million, or the full amount of a contract that runs through June 30, 2029, if he was terminated without cause.

Many appear to want him gone before then. Before each of the football team’s last two home games at the Rose Bowl, an airplane has flown over the stadium pulling a banner calling for his dismissal.