Rebowe talks McNeese, Fourcade in opener

The Nicholls football team has officially begun fall camp.

The Colonels reported to camp on Monday and started practices on Tuesday in advance of the start of the season on Aug. 31 against McNeese State University.

Colonels coach Tim Rebowe joined Managing Editor Casey Gisclair this week and the two talked some football in advance of the season.

In the 15-minute interview, Rebowe discussed opening the season with a Southland foe, sophomore quarterback Chase Fourcade and much more.

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CG: This is an exciting time to be a college football head coach. Camp is about to open. Give us a run-down of your team as you’re getting ready to start preparing for the season.

TR: “Well, one thing that’s a little bit different is every time we go to Media Day, we know that the season is here and the new year is right around the corner and that guys are finishing up their summer workouts and are getting ready for fall camp. But I think one of the things that’s going to sound a little bit crazy, but is a little bit different for us is that we’re going to actually play a game the first week of the season. The last few years, we’ve always had an open date, so we’d always report to camp a little later than most of the teams in the country because, of course, you’re only allowed so many practice dates in the fall. So this year, we get to report on time with everybody else and our guys are just really excited.”

CG: Tell us about that first game. It’s going to be a big one – a conference date with McNeese.

TR: “It’s a good thing. You know, I’ve been getting the question a lot about playing a conference game first. How does that work? Why is it like that? But listen, we only play two non-conference games all year. So this isn’t really all that unusual. Some teams open up and play some conference games early on. Our opener just so happens to be with the McNeese Cowboys. They’re a power in this league and a power in our state. So right off the bat, we’re going to have to show how much we’ve improved over the years. And quite frankly, we’re excited because the last two years, we haven’t played real well against them, so I’m hoping we can change that this year.”

CG: Last year, you had a true freshman quarterback and, for the most part, he excelled. Tell us about Chase Fourcade as he enters year two in the program?

TR: “He was a special young man when we recruited him out of high school and we knew that. He came in and he had a lot of talent, but he also had a lot of the intangibles and he proved that last year. But you know, when you talk to Chase, he realizes, too, that he wasn’t as good as he can be. He had a good opening campaign, but he can be a lot better. I just see Chase maturing a lot more throughout the offseason and throughout the year. I think even after spring ball, which we finished up in March, he’s continued to grow and has continued to mature and he’s continued to lead this football team. Chase has had a tremendous summer and we’re just excited about the future of the program and a lot of that is because you’ve got a guy coming back that can take charge of your offense and that can take charge of your whole football team.”

CG: One area which probably goes underlooked is the improvement your team has made on defense since you got with the team. Tell us about the defense as we head into 2017.

TR: “Well, first of all, Coach Tommy Rybacki is our defensive coordinator and if I could mention the guys who work along with him: Anthony Camp on the defensive line, Brian Wallace with the safeties and Chris Thompson with the corners. Those guys do a tremendous job. One of the things when we got here – and Tommy was the first guy on our staff that we hired – was that we looked together at what had happened in the past. And for our defense, it was just a pattern of giving up big plays after big plays after big plays. It was long runs and long passes and we just knew we had to eliminate that. So what we did is we just got really simple on defense. And look, it starts with some good players and we were happy to recruit those players. But you’ve got to put a scheme together that can fit those guys, but we have a simple approach. Sometimes we make this game more complicated than it has to be. It’s about blocking and tackling and on defense, that’s our big emphasis – being where you’re supposed to be, running to the ball and making good tackles.”

CG: Your facilities are getting so much better – even with limited funding. Talk about what it’s like walking around campus and seeing all the great things taking place.

TR: “Well, you start at the top. Dr. Bruce Murphy, our president, sees the importance of athletics and knows what it can do to a university and what it can do to an entire community. So he’s putting some money into it. Matt Roan, our new athletic director, has been involved here, as well, and there’s a lot of people working behind the scenes to get things done. In today’s world, in the world of recruiting, it’s all about showing them the stuff you have. These guys see the big stadiums and the nice locker rooms and everything else, and you have to do that stuff in order to keep up. For us, it was time. It was a long time coming. The stadium turf had been old and it was time for a replacement. We had people step up to get us a nice, brand-new surface. We also were able to get a brand new video board that will be installed in early August. It will be in place for the first game. That’s just going to make the whole atmosphere and the whole John L. Guidry Stadium a great place to be on Saturday night and, of course, on Thursday night for the first game of the year.”

Tim Rebowe

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