Woodward: "They didn’t have to sell me on anything." "Can still make a mean gumbo"

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Just knowing how important in a place that there’s probably no more important institution in America to its state than LSU is to Louisiana. (NCAA President) Mark Emmert taught me that when I worked for him, and you — you meaning me — being from here, you don’t realize until you get away and you see how vital it is.

It’s humbling. It’s very humbling for me to come in and work again for a second time at a place that is so important to the state and, on a personal basis, is so important to you from a transformative basis.

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Aside from the personal stuff, there’s no greater institution that means more to its state than Louisiana State University. It’s just that way, and I’ve always believed that. And now that I’ve had a chance to leave it and look outside it, institutions are important to their state, but boy when you have one that is so prominent and sticks out so much as one institution in a state — unlike a place like where Alabama where you have Auburn and University of Alabama, or Georgia where you have Georgia and Georgia Tech — it’s a special, special, special relationship.

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I get home enough because my parents are still there. I haven’t forgotten them, and I can still make a mean gumbo and I can still make a mean crawfish étouffée. You know, your skills get even more sharpened when you’re. You yearn them so much.

Now, I just look forward to immersing myself and getting back into the daily living of my passion and my people and really look forward to those challenges and those opportunities.

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