Colonels ‘beef up’ with 2011 recruiting class

After seeing his quarterbacks get sacked 46 times last season, Nicholls State coach Charlie Stubbs knew he wanted to add offensive linemen in the 2011 recruiting class.

It’s pretty safe to say Stubbs fulfilled his quota pretty nicely.

A total of five offensive linemen made up the Colonels’ 20 total commitments, which were unveiled last Wednesday at the Colonels’ National Signing Day festivities.

“The emphasis in offensive recruiting this year was we felt like we needed to get solid up front,” Stubbs told media and a gathered crowd of Colonels’ supporters. “We’ve got to get better up front. Right now, when we came in here, that was a position where our numbers were down tremendously.”

Norman North High School standout Caleb Cline headlines the group of future Nicholls linemen.

Standing 6-foot-3-inches and weighing close to 300 pounds, Cline was named to the Oklahoma Class 6A-1 All-District Team, All-Conference Team and the Oklahoma Coaches Association State Team.

Away from the gridiron, he is just as mean and physical, currently serving as the No. 1-ranked heavyweight wrestler in Oklahoma with a 28-0 record and 21 pins.

“If you’ve got an offensive line that understands wrestling techniques, then he’s going to be a tremendous football player,” Stubbs said. “He’s a great kid, too. He’s just a great young man.”

Also joining the Colonels’ class up front will be West St. John High School prospect Cailin Cola, Cinco Ranch High School’s Tyler Knowles and Brewer High School standout Garrison Trice III.

Midterm signee Ryan Zeller from St. Michael the Archangel High School in Baton Rouge is also counted to the 2011 class, even though he enrolled at Nicholls in January.

Those five players combined weigh an average of 293 pounds.

“When I got my first coordinator job, and I can remember this vividly, I was 29-years-old,” Stubbs said. “And I was promoted to be the offensive coordinator at Oregon State University, a PAC-10 school. So I had just come off of BYU’s success and this and that, but I’ll never forget it, I got home and I went home to my wife Sandy and I rubbed my hands together like that and I said, ‘Man, this is great, just give me my quarterbacks and my receivers and I’m going to set the PAC-10 on fire.’ Well, it didn’t take me long to realize after I’d coached a few games where the game is really played – the game is played up front. … And we believed we needed to solidify that area offensively. If you can control the line of scrimmage, you usually control the score.”

The Colonels used their other five offensive commitments to attempt to secure playmaking on the offensive side of the football, signing former Thibodaux halfback Joshua Johnson, as well as former John Curtis standout receiver and Tri-parish native Josh Hanberry.

“We wanted to recruit more playmakers,” Stubbs said. “That’s the person who can take a routine play and make it special. We had a few guys who could do that on the offensive side of the ball, who could do something on their own, or who could make something tremendous happen, but we don’t have enough of them. So we went out and found some young men who can do their magic.”

Like on offense, the Colonels focused their defensive efforts toward compiling depth, especially at the linebacker position.

Nicholls signed five linebackers in the 2011 class, headlined by Vandebilt Catholic All-District performer Nick LeBlanc and former Ole Miss player Brandon Sanders, who transferred in the late fall and is currently enrolled in Thibodaux.

Stubbs said the team’s push for linebacker depth comes in lieu of the team’s switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense which occurred midway through the 2010 season.

“That allows us to be faster, quicker on defense and be able to adjust better to various offensive schemes and formations,” Stubbs said. “So we’re going to simulate if you watch the Super Bowl on Sunday night, the defense we’re going to be most like is the Green Bay Packers’ defense.”

Following that same mold, Stubbs also got a run-stopping 3-4-oriented defensive tackle, signing Jordan Thompson, a 285-pound nose guard from Hahnville High School.

“He’s a load,” Stubbs said. “We have on our recruiting trips, Cannata’s was just nice enough to give us a bunch of king cakes and Jordan by far won at inhaling the king cake.”

Of the 20 players, 16 come from Louisiana and several were also National Honor Society students during their high school careers. That recruiting local and recruiting quality players philosophy is what Stubbs said will be his motto throughout his entire career with the team.

“Some of you might keep hearing National Honor Society or Honor Student,” Stubbs said. “The thing we feel like in recruiting is they are out there – very good players and very good students. You just have to dig a little deeper sometimes. And that’s what we plan on doing.”

Nicholls State 2011 Recruiting Class:

Offensive signees:

Caleb Cline, 6’3, 290, offensive lineman, Norman North High School, Norman, Okla.

Cailin Cola, 6’3, 300, offensive lineman, West St. John High School, Vacherie

Tyler Knowles, 6’6, 275, offensive lineman, Cinco Ranch High School, Katy, Texas

Garrison Trice III, 6’4, 280, offensive lineman, Brewer High School, Fort Worth, Texas

Josh Hanberry, 5’9, 160, wide receiver, John Curtis Christian High School, River Ridge

Darryl Watson, Jr., 5’11, 170, wide receiver, Holy Cross High School, New Orleans

Joshua Johnson, 5’9, 190, halfback, Thibodaux High School, Thibodaux

Darnell Rachal, 5’9, 180, halfback, Riverside Academy, Reserve

Terry Lucas, 6’0, 200, athlete, St. Augustine High School, New Orleans

Defensive signees:

Brenton Bowman, 5’9, 195, linebacker, Holy Cross High School, Kenner

Nick LeBlanc, 6’2, 215, linebacker, Vandebilt Catholic High School, Houma

Marcus Parker, 6’2, 205, linebacker, Port Allen High School, Port Allen

Ben Taylor, 6’0, 200, linebacker, Hahnville High School, Luling

Cole Frazier, 6’4, 255, defensive lineman, Brother Martin High School, Kenner

Jordan Thompson, 6’2, 285, defensive lineman, Hahnville High School, Luling

Davin Bovie, 6’0, 180, safety, Riverdale High School, Waggaman

Byron Cobb, 5’10, 180, safety, West Feliciana High School, St. Francisville

Darvin Butler, 5’10, 170, cornerback, Plaquemine High School, Plaquemine

Mid-Year Signees:

Ryan Zeller, 6’5, 318, offensive lineman, St. Michael the Archangel High School, Baton Rouge

Brandon Sanders, 6’0, 220, linebacker, two-year player at Ole Miss, Lawrenceville, Ga.