Colonels feature 3-headed monster at QB

Nicholls State football coach Charlie Stubbs loves quarterbacks.

Luckily for him, he has a quartet of quality signal callers vying for time this fall.

The Colonels will heavily rely on the services of Beaux Hebert, Kalen Henderson and Tuskani Figaro in the 2013 season.

If those plans fail, the team has also been working to develop redshirt freshman Dash Duncan – the team’s likely future starter.

No matter who is chosen to take the majority of the reps, Nicholls’ players believe their quarterback play will be a strength in the upcoming season.

“The competition at that position is bringing out the best in those guys and also bringing out the best in our offense,” senior linebacker Chris Bermond said. “Those guys are out there working hard every day and they are all competing for one spot because, obviously, you can only have one quarterback. It’s great. Everybody there wants it. And they all can play and they are all doing a great job. That fuels the rest of the guys and brings out competition everywhere else. We love it.”

The need for the open competition was created this spring by an injury.

The team announced midway through its spring practices that 2012 starter Landry Klann had been shut down because of a sore shoulder.

That sore shoulder proved to be more severe – an injury that required season-ending surgery.    

The San Antonio native tossed for 2,049 yards and eight touchdowns last season for the Colonels, completing 176-of-310 passes.

With Klann out, the seemingly obvious answer for his replacement was junior quarterback Beaux Hebert.

Hebert was Klann’s backup last season.

He completed 23-of-37 passes for 315 yards with one touchdown in mop-up action.

The Colonels junior landed in Thibodaux with a decorated pedigree.

Hebert is the son of former New Orleans Saints Pro Bowler, the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert.

Beaux Hebert said that he dedicated his offseason to conditioning and also to working with the team’s halfbacks, receivers and tight ends.

“We just worked hard throughout the offseason to get our conditioning right – we were here all summer,” Hebert said. “But I also went out and threw to those guys to just get the chemistry together. We gelled.”

Hebert said he also relishes the fact that he is going to be a bigger part of the team’s plans in the new season.

He added that he hopes to have a breakout year to push the team’s offense forward.

“I’m going to play as hard as I can every game – I guarantee you that,” Hebert said.

Hebert has been working with the Colonels’ first team throughout most of spring and fall practices.

But even though he’s the leader in the clubhouse, Stubbs has not formally named Hebert the starter just yet.

That’s because Henderson lands in Thibodaux with a decorated pedigree, as well.

He was an unexpected gift to the Colonels’ plans.

Henderson transferred from Tulsa to Nicholls over the summer after spending two years as a backup quarterback with the Golden Hurricanes.

A Mount Airy, La., native, Henderson played in 11 games for Tulsa last season, throwing for 416 yards with four scores.

Henderson is also a dual threat. He rushed for more than 100 yards on the season with a score.

Prior to his time with the Golden Hurricanes, Henderson was a decorated signal caller at East St. John High School in Reserve.

While leading the Wildcats, Henderson reached the playoffs three-straight seasons. In his senior year, Henderson threw for 1,734 yards, rushed for 534 more and combined for 32 total touchdowns.

The Colonels players tout that they are impressed with Henderson’s ability to both throw and run.

They added that he has been quick to learn the team’s system, and should be ready to compete in game action this fall.

“He learned the system and the playbook pretty quick – faster than I did,” Figaro said. “He’s a good quarterback. He can really throw it. He’s got a great arm. But he also runs pretty well, too. He’ll be an asset to us.”

“He’s come in and been a nice fit,” Bermond added.

The wildcard in the mix is the Colonels’ wildcat – Figaro.

As a true freshman in 2012, Figaro rushed for 208 yards and three touchdowns for Nicholls as a Wildcat quarterback in the team’s offense.

His season was cut short after just three games with an injury.

Now healthy, Figaro believes that he has more to offer to the team this fall with his arm.

In fall practices, the sophomore has been used in passing plays – he’s showcased a solid arm. He said that he was a Wildcat last year because he struggled to pick up the playbook in his true freshman season.

“Last year, I struggled picking up the playbook,” Figaro said. “I struggled with reads and I might miss my check-down guy or little things like that because I was thinking too much about what we were doing and what play we were running. This year, everything is clicking a little bit more and I just feel more comfortable back there.”

Like Hebert, Figaro also has a winning pedigree at his disposal. His father Cedric Figaro was a linebacker at Notre Dame and played seven seasons in the NFL for the Chargers, Colts, Browns and Rams.

“I’m kind of glad the coaches are trusting me to throw it a little bit more instead of running all of the time,” Figaro said. “Being able to throw and run is a big help to the team. I think we can do a lot of things as an offense, and I am ready to help however I am asked.”

Now the ball is in Stubbs’ court, and in the coming days he will make a decision about the team’s depth chart at the position.

The coach said that throughout the season he will work two players with the first team in case of an injury.

“Something always happens,” Stubbs said. “We haven’t had a year here yet where we kept our quarterback healthy the whole season.”

He also has shown in the past a willingness to redshirt players who aren’t figuring to see much time.

The coach said following a recent practice that Figaro is the only Colonels’ quarterback who could be redshirted.

“Beaux and Kalen both have been redshirted – their clocks are ticking. They have to be out there on the field if they are deserving to play, of course,” Stubbs said. “But Tuskani has a redshirt year left if we need it. We haven’t made that decision yet, but it’s out there for us.”

No matter what the depth chart looks like, the three players all said the same thing: It’s all about the wins.

“We are all Colonels,” Hebert said. “We all support one another.”

“We can all get the job done and we all support one another,” Figaro added. “That’s my family.”