Coach: Nicholls will open 2013 with Oregon

Five LSU players declare for NFL Draft
January 8, 2013
Colonels split Southland Conference opening week
January 8, 2013
Five LSU players declare for NFL Draft
January 8, 2013
Colonels split Southland Conference opening week
January 8, 2013

The 2012 football season didn’t go the way the Nicholls football team planned – that’s putting it mildly.

The Colonels finished with just one win for the second-straight season. They also were winless in Southland Conference play – a losing streak that has now stretched to 14 games.


Despite the lean times, Colonels coach Charlie Stubbs said this week that he believes bright days are ahead for the program.


In a 20-minute exclusive interview with SportsNet, the three-year coach touched on several topics as the team heads into the offseason.

In the interview, Stubbs confirmed that the Colonels would open their 2013 season against Fiesta Bowl Champion Oregon.


Casey Gisclair: Obviously the 2012 season was not one that you guys expected. Just talk about what went wrong for you guys.


Charlie Stubbs: First of all, we’re laying a foundation. We’re getting a lot of things accomplished that maybe can’t be seen right now. We’re building a program based on character and strong academics and we feel like both of those things are headed in a very positive direction. What we feel like we have to do is have a very productive recruiting class. When we finished the season, I had 108 kids in the program and we only had 15 seniors, so you can see we were a relatively young team. We feel like if we can keep all of those kids in the program and helping them improve will help us in the future.

CG: When you took the job at Nicholls, did you ever expect the turnaround to take this long?


CS: No. No, I really didn’t. I’m just being honest with you. I didn’t realize there was that much disparity in the conference with things like facilities and other things. I thought we’d at least be middle of the pack or something like that. I didn’t know it all. I knew there would be some challenges, though. I knew Nicholls didn’t have all of the little bells and whistles that some programs have in that. You just have to keep going – you have to keep fighting and clawing. That’s what I’m striving to do, too, as our leader. Our goal as a coaching staff is to just keep working and to keep leading these guys. We’ll get it together and we’ll get it turned around.


CG: Coach, there was a rumor this past season that you guys would play Oregon next season. Can you confirm this?

CS: Yeah. We are. I can confirm that. We’re opening up with Oregon in our first game. Then our second game, we’re playing Western Michigan. Then our third game is Louisiana-Lafayette, who we all know is a really hot team in our state. Those are first three games – all against FBS opponents, which is a super challenge for our program. But it helps our program. Hopefully we can come out of it healthy, but playing those games really helps our athletic department and this university, so we’re happy to play them.


CG: We got the news that you decided to release two coaches from your staff following last season. What goes into making a decision like that?

CS: The biggest thing is that I want things coached a certain way – I want every coach in our staff’s philosophy to be the same. One of the mottos that I chose this year was Band of Brothers and that was chosen because I knew before we even played this season that it’d be a challenge and a half for this program. I knew we needed every player pulling together heading in the same direction. I knew that we needed every coach to do the same thing. It’s not just the players. When I sense something not pulling in the same direction, it’s my job to make changes. So in his particular instance, that’s exactly what I did.

CG: Coach, you mentioned recruiting earlier. What are some areas that you’re going to look to target in the next class.

CS: One thing that’s always been a challenge for me since I’ve been at Nicholls is getting enough linemen – on both sides of the ball. That is the game of football. Anyone who really knows the game will tell you that the line is where it’s really played. If you really control the line of scrimmage, you usually have a chance. That’s an area where we’ve had some glaring matchup problems against us – especially against some of the really good teams. We’re working, fighting and clawing to get more linemen in our program. On offense, we’re also just looking for more playmakers – we need guys who can just take a play that’s really not there and just make something special out of it. We also need to get our return game back to where it used to be. We need an All-Conference or an All-American returner in our repertoire. Right now, we have some good guys, but they haven’t been as consistent as some of the guys we’ve had here in the past. Another thing we need is some help in the secondary – especially corners who can play man coverage so that we can pressure. You can’t pressure on defense if you can’t hold up, so those are some key points. We also have got to get our kicking game in order with a punter.

CG: With so many holes to fill, where do you plan to fill out the roster?

CS: We want to recruit local kids as much as possible and I feel like we’ve done a very good job of that thus far. I want to keep that going. One thing that I’ve found during my time here at Nicholls is that some of our better players are kids that we just bring in from the state of Louisiana and just work with and develop them. When we do that, most of the time, they end up becoming our best players. That’s what I’m continuing to emphasize – recruiting the state of Louisiana and especially this surrounding area.

CG: One thing that has plagued the team throughout your tenure here has been injuries. How do you fix that?

CS: It’s just bad luck. But we’re going to do everything we can to get our kids stronger. I really feel like when I go out in pregame warm-ups and look at the kids on the field, you quickly notice that our kids don’t quite look the same as their kids do at many positions. We’ve got to get our kids in tip-top shape. We need our kids to stay here over the summer and lift and train, while going to summer school to get an extra class or two. Hopefully the economy gets a little bit better so we can get summer jobs for these kids so that we can have kids who can afford to stay. When those things happen, you’d be surprised at how much better of a football team you end up being. College football isn’t just a part-time thing nowadays. It’s year-round training now. That’s what you’ve got to do. If we can train year-round and get in better condition, we can be better in those areas.

CG: Despite the tough times, you seem optimistic going forward. Is that the case?

CS: Absolutely. Absolutely. We have a lot of talented players coming back and recruiting is going pretty well. There are a lot of talented guys who think we’re not that far away and they see our program and think to themselves, ‘Hey, I can go there and really make a difference right away.’ I’m open and honest with players up front: We need help. We have opportunities here for people to come in and play. We have kids here who are very interested in being a Colonel. We hope to finish these next few weeks strong heading into Signing Day. From there, we’ll recruit even after Signing Day. It’s a busy time for us here.

Nicholls State football coach Charlie Stubbs claps during a practice this past season. The Colonels’ coach detailed the team’s plans for the 2013 season this week in a Q&A session. Stubbs confirmed to SportsNet that Nicholls will open next season against Oregon. He also said that the way the team can combat its injury woes is through enhanced conditioning and workouts in summer drills. He said despite the lack of success, the team is optimistic it can turn itself around next season. 

FILE PHOTO