Eli-15 ready for college: McGuire at UL, waiting for camp
July 23, 2013Johnny Football has a lot of growing up to do
July 23, 2013
Nicholls State University volleyball coach Tommy Harold wants to work heavily with his team during his first season as the Colonels’ coach.
The team’s schedule clearly illustrates that philosophy.
Harold announced the Colonels’ 2013 schedule on Thursday – a challenging slate highlighted by preseason tournaments in New Orleans, Lafayette and Tuscaloosa, Ala.
But Nicholls doesn’t make many long preseason trips during its schedule – something Harold said is by design as he aims to polish his young roster.
“The schedule we have is challenging, but we get to stay close to home in two of the early tournaments,” Harold said. “(That) will give us more opportunities to work with the players and get them ready for conference.”
Nicholls’ entire non-conference schedule will be hashed out in tournaments.
The Colonels will open the year from Aug. 30-31 at the Kathy Trosclair Memorial at Tulane.
During that weekend, Nicholls will take on Mississippi Valley State, Rider and Tulane.
From there, the Colonels will take part in the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic, hosted by UL-Lafayette.
In that two-day event, Nicholls will battle ULL, Houston and Alcorn State.
The team’s stiffest non-conference test will come the second weekend of September at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash.
While playing in the University of Alabama’s annual tournament, Nicholls will tangle with the Crimson Tide, South Alabama, Tennessee-Martin and Arkansas State.
Following the tournament play, Nicholls will return home and begin Southland Conference action.
The conference will have a new look in the 2013 athletic season with Incarnate Word, Abilence Christian, Houston Baptist and UNO added to the league’s schedule.
The Colonels open league play on Sept. 19 in a home match with Sam Houston State.
Nicholls will also have two conference homestands. The first will come from Oct. 1-5 when the team hosts Houston Baptist, UNO and Southeastern Louisiana.
The next will be from Oct. 14-19 when NSU plays Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Oral Roberts and Central Arkansas in Thibodaux.
The tough part of the Southland slate will come from Oct. 26-Nov. 9 when Nicholls plays five-straight matches on the road.
The Colonels will travel to play McNeese State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Houston Baptist, Lamar and Sam Houston State in the lengthy trip.
Fortunately for the Colonels, that trip encompasses the final weeks of the season.
That should help Nicholls’ youthful roster that has just four returning players.
Harold named Allen as assistant coach
This week was a busy one for the Colonels’ volleyball program.
A day before announcing their schedule, Harold completed his coaching staff, tabbing high school coach and former collegiate player Ashley Allen to fill the position.
Allen lands at Nicholls after most recently working with USA Volleyball’s A2 Team in Dallas this past summer.
She was a player at Binghamton in her career.
Allen’s hiring is a fairly big move for Nicholls.
The new assistant coach was named one of the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s 30 under 30, which honors young coaches under the year of 30-years-old.
“Ashley brings a wealth of experience to the table as an assistant and the drive it takes to succeed on this level,” Harold said. “She’s proven that she can develop quality talent. She will be a great asset for us going into the new year.”
Allen arrives in Thibodaux after serving as a prep coach for the past three seasons at Jackson High School in Washington. During her time with the program, she coached 11 All-Conference athletes and two All-Americans.
In her first season, Jackson High won the WIAA Class 4A State Title.
The next two seasons, they placed in the top five.
She said she is excited to take her coaching talent to Thibodaux.
“I’m very excited to be able to continue my coaching career at Nicholls,” Allen said. “After talking with Tommy about his vision for the program and his experiences, I’m looking forward to learning more about the profession and help this team any way that I can.”
Colonels name Washington defensive line coach
The volleyball team wasn’t the only program at Nicholls to hire a coach this week – football got in on the action, too.
Colonels’ football coach Charlie Stubbs announced this week that Atlanta Sports Academy assistant coach Brandon Washington has been hired to coach Nicholls’ defensive line.
Washington has coached at ASA for the past three seasons as defensive line coach and also strength and conditioning coach. Under his watch, the Spartans recorded 123 total sacks and also posted a 40-6 overall record.
Washington is perhaps best known for his work as a player. The Tuscaloosa, Ala. native was a four-year letterman at LSU. He was a member of the Tigers’ 2003 BCS National Championship team.
During his time with LSU, the Tigers posted a 54-11 overall record with two SEC Championships and three SEC Western Division Championships.
Following his collegiate career, Washington enjoyed a short career in arena football leagues.
While with the Tigers, Washington was coached by esteemed coach Nick Saban.
It was Saban who got the former defensive lineman on the path to Thibodaux.
The championship-winning Alabama coach took in Washington as an intern at Alabama – the first coaching job in his career.
