Nicholls adds two more coaches to staff; releases 2010 schedule

With spring practice less than a month away from beginning, Nicholls State first-year coach Charlie Stubbs is getting closer to completing his coaching staff.

Stubbs announced last Wednesday he has hired Chuck Hepola and Keith Uperesa to the team’s coaching staff.

“These guys have the qualities we’re looking for in a coach,” Stubbs said. “They are high-quality people, good role models and have a great knowledge of the things we’re trying to do with this program. We’re excited about working with these guys.”

Hepola lands in Thibodaux after spending last season as the Director of Football Operations at Louisiana-Monroe.

At Nicholls State, Hepola will serve as the team’s running backs coach and recruiting coordinator.

Prior to his one-year stint in Monroe, Hepola spent four years at East Central University where he served as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. At ECU, he coached six All-Conference players.

The Tulsa, Okla., native also has experience working with Stubbs when he served as an assistant coach for two seasons while Stubbs was the Hurricanes’ offensive coordinator.

“He’s very familiar with what we’re trying to do on offense,” Stubbs said. “He knows the big picture and the plan we’re following.”

Uperesa was an offensive line and tight ends coach at UNLV for the past five seasons. He will serve as an offensive line coach at Nicholls.

With the Rebels, Uperesa coached six All-Conference linemen. Prior to his time with UNLV, Uperesa served as an assistant coach for Urban Meyer at Utah, where the Utes went a perfect 12-0 and won the Fiesta Bowl Championship. Uperesa also coached at USC from 2001-02, while helping the Trojans win the Orange Bowl in that season.

“It will give me a lot of comfort and confidence knowing we have a guy coaching those kids up front,” Stubbs said. “Because we know how important offensive line play is to what we’re trying to do. We were lucky he was available at this time, because he will be a huge help, because he’s very experienced.”

Uperesa also has ties to Stubbs and the two played together at BYU.

Stubbs said he has two more positions filled, but the announcements cannot be made at this time.

The first-year coach said he will name a cornerbacks coach and an assistant offensive line coach in the coming days and that will round out his staff.

“After that, it’s full-throttle into spring practice,” Stubbs said.

The Colonels begin spring practice on March 29.

That date is later than it is for other programs around the country. Stubbs said that is because of the staff hires the team was making.

“We wanted to have everyone together,” Stubbs said. “But in the future, I would like to have it probably start a little bit earlier.”

The Colonels will have “about 60 players” on campus for spring practices.

Stubbs said the primary focus of the team’s 15 practices would be fundamentals and getting the basics of the team’s new offensive scheme.

“We want to make sure we’re able to do all of the basic things – tackling, catching, blocking,” Stubbs said. “Then we want to make sure everyone on our staff gets to gel with one another. We want to learn to work together, teach together and come together as a staff.”

Colonels release 2010 football schedule:

The Nicholls State athletic department released the Colonels’ 2010 football schedule last week. The Colonels will play three Division I opponents during the season to start the season (San Diego State, Western Michigan and South Alabama).

The Colonels will play five home games, including a homecoming date with Bacone College on Sept. 25 and a Nov. 18 home game with Southeastern Louisiana to close the season.

Stubbs said the schedule was created prior to getting to Nicholls.

“It’s fine,” he said. “Now, we’re just studying film so we can learn more about the other programs in our conference. We know a lot, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”