A 66-year-old former accountant wasn’t afraid to march to his own beat.
Retiree Kent Broussard enrolled in Louisiana State University and became a freshman this year to fulfill his childhood dream of playing in the school’s iconic marching band.
Broussard, a Baton Rouge resident, said he kick-started the idea as he was winding down his career in the corporate world.
“I had a conversation with my wife and my family about five years ago [and] I said, ‘What I want to do when I retire is, I want to enroll in LSU and I want to try out for the Tiger band,” according to the university.
The lifelong Louisianian, who plays the sousaphone, did not get any special treatment as he inched toward his vision of marching with the prestigious 325-member band, dubbed “The Golden Band from Tigerland.”
He successfully applied to LSU and, like every other student, is required to attend classes, study for tests and complete assignments.
“I had to enroll [at LSU],” Broussard said. “I had to go through the whole process, just like everybody does. Then I had to really plan, ‘How am I going to do the Tiger band?’”
Broussard, also a former global executive in the alcoholic beverage industry, needed to get into shape and boost his musical talents, which he admitted were a little rusty.
The former beverage boss said he hadn’t touched an instrument for 45 years and spent a year learning how to read sheet music and play the sousaphone from LSU graduate assistant Matthew Thompson.
“I practiced every day, sometimes until midnight,” Broussard shared. “I hadn’t played since my 20s, but it started coming back. And my family, they were 100 percent behind me.”
The LSU fan even started running with a weighted fest and carrying his 30-pound sousaphone around his neighborhood.
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All of Broussard’s hard work paid off when he saw his name on the roster for the Grammy-nominated band for the 2025-2026 school year..
“The instant I saw it, several of the returning members saw it too, and they started hollering and screaming,” Broussard recalled. “The percussion group next door came in, and about 30 people were jumping up and down. It was just a great moment.”
Broussard is the oldest member of the historic band by 41 years.
Broussard has the full support of his family, even though his wife, Cheryl, was initially confused by his ambitious goal.
“At first I was like, ‘Do they have like a senior band?’” Cheryl quipped during an interview with CBS News. “I mean I wasn’t sure what he was exactly talking about and it was the real, real band.”
Broussard is focused on his college courses on top of the music, as required by the band.
“All members [of the band] must be full-time students at LSU” and “have a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA and remain in good academic standing with the university,” according to the college.
Broussard made his debut on the field of Tiger Stadium during the football team’s home opener on Saturday.
The band played songs from “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Wiz” and “Wicked.”