NSU touts academic, competitive progress in 2011

With the smallest enrollment in the Southland Conference and some of the poorest funding, it’s difficult for Nicholls State to stay afloat in the athletic landscape.

Add a slew of coaching changes to the mix and that task became even more daunting in 2011.

But don’t talk about disadvantages around Nicholls State Athletics Director Rob Bernardi. He’s the first one to tell you it’s the Nicholls way to do more with less, something he believes his department did in what appears to have been a solid 2011 sporting season within the university.

“There’s been some positives and some negatives, some good and some bad,” Bernardi said. “But overall, I think we’ve done a good job positioning ourselves better in this past calendar year.”

The biggest positives within the 2011 calendar year for the Colonels have arguably come academically.

Several of Nicholls’ sports were on the verge of penalty stages from the NCAA in recent years because of poor Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, a statistic that measures a program’s ability to push student athletes toward graduation in their careers.

But those numbers have seen a massive overhaul in recent years and several sports previously on the fence have made giant leaps, a source of pride for Bernardi.

“We’ve made such great progress and such great strides in such a short period of time,” Bernardi said. “We had such a long way to go to get there and we’ve gotten there. In the area of APR and graduation rates, I’m pleased and I just continue to be pleased with the numbers that we’re putting up.”

The numbers Bernardi references are sometimes difficult to grasp with a complex stat like APR.

But some of the sports that have made the most progress are baseball, women’s basketball and football, among others.

Those improving sports join programs such as volleyball, soccer and softball, which were already well about the APR threshold.

“The transformations they’ve made … it’s just incredible,” Bernardi said. “It’s a tribute to the coaches and the ways that they recruit and the diligence and the effort that they put into it.”

The past calendar year was also a prominent one for facility work within the university.

The athletics director said John L. Guidry would be in line for a small makeover as plans were finalized this year to get a new elevator placed into the stadium.

“We should be able to get that project started in the early part of the year,” Bernardi said.

The Colonels’ women’s basketball locker room has also been revamped in the past few weeks and the team’s soccer complex is scheduled to be finished with its makeover in the early weeks of January.

“And I think there are some other facilities that we’ll get started with pretty quickly in terms of improving them,” Bernardi added.

With a slew of academic and structural positives, Bernardi admitted he’d have liked for a few teams within the athletic department to be more competitive in 2011.

“We just have to do a better job being competitive overall,” Bernardi said.

The biggest source of disappointment within any athletic department is when a football team struggles.

Nicholls did just that in 2011 and won just one game.

But Bernardi listed injuries as the largest culprit behind that program’s failures, touting that he has “utmost confidence” in soon-to-be third-year head coach Charlie Stubbs’ ability to turn things around.

“I still remain optimistic,” Bernardi said. “We’re going through a transitional period. And within the next couple of years, I think we’re going to sort of cycle out of that transition.

“We’re all a little bit anxious about football, but I’m nonetheless very optimistic about the future of that program. Coach Stubbs and his coaches, they really do a very good job in all phases of the program from recruiting to academics to the management of that program, they are all handled very well.”

The athletics director expressed similar optimism for the volleyball and soccer programs, who both struggled in their 2011 seasons.

Bernardi said he urges everyone involved in each program to remain patient and to continue on its current course toward progression.

He used the Colonels’ women’s basketball team as a reference point, talking about that team’s current 6-5 record, noting the slow and steady progress that they’ve made.

“We’re having to constantly remain our coaches that in rebuilding, what you think might take one or two years might take three or four,” Bernardi said. “The classic example is women’s basketball. Look at their record right now. They are 6-5. Sure, I think DoBee [Plaisance] thought a year or two ago, she’d be at this point, but instead it’s taken her four years.

“And I can tell you, we expect things to get nothing but better for them from this point forward. It’s just about having patience.”

Even with the full slate, the final days of 2011 will not be easy ones for Bernardi.

The first thing on the to-do list for the Nicholls administrator is to find a volleyball coach.

That job came available after TeAna Tramel resigned from her post after two years with the team.

Bernardi wouldn’t comment on the reasons for Tramel’s dismissal, but added that he believes the decision was made early enough to conduct a wide-ranging search for her successor.

“We’re moving forward trying to find her replacement,” Bernardi said. “We’re trying to find someone and have them in place, preferably by early February. … The university is closed and the students don’t even come back until January 17 or so, so that affords us some time to be able to conduct a thorough search and find a good candidate.”

The coach also has to finish the process of hiring a new track and field coach.

Bernardi said that hire has already been made, but hasn’t yet been announced.

He wouldn’t confirm whom the candidate is, but added that ‘she’ will be a good fit for the program.

“She’ll start in the beginning of the year and she’s already had time to meet with the players before they left for their Christmas break,” Bernardi said. “That situation is resolved and we’re excited about the candidate that we’ve got. I’m sure she’ll be a great asset to the team.”

A slew of new coaches, a small enrollment and some of the poorest facilities in the Southland Conference.

That Bernardi sure has a rough job, doesn’t he?

He may.

But he’ll never admit such sentiments.

He believes the Colonels can achieve just as much as anyone with a little extra work and determination, the Nicholls way.

“I look across the Southland Conference at the schools we compete against and I see the facilities and the resources,” Bernardi said. “I know they are in a better place to get quicker results than we are. But I don’t think we have any lesser expectations than they do, I think the path for us just sometimes takes a little longer because of some of the resources. … Clearly, we are the smallest in terms of enrollment and overall resources in the league. I can’t deny that and clearly, I recognize that.

“But I’ve always maintained the best years of this program are ahead of us. I think we’re moving toward that future.”

Nicholls State quarterback Landry Klann fires a pass during a practice this season. Nicholls State Athletics Director Rob Bernardi believes Colonels sports were more competitive on the field, but were also much better in the classroom lifting their APR scores. FILE PHOTO