Fresh off of leading Nicholls State to its first conference football championship in 13 years, Colonels head football coach Tim Rebowe is seeing his program blossom—and to the winners go the spoils.
Rebowe, former head football coach of the Destrehan Wildcats, led his team to an 9-4 record and the Southland Conference title in 2018. In the wake of that progress came the announcement that Nicholls will soon begin construction on a $6.5 million football facility, of which $2.52 million will be paid by an anonymous outside donor. It marks the largest single monetary donation in the school’s history.
The money will be used to fund the expansion of Barker Hall to include a football operations center at the south end zone of John L. Guidry Stadium.
The football program, which shares Barker Hall with baseball and athletics administration, will move into the football operations center, which will include a new locker room, players’ lounge, team meeting room with stadium-style seating, training room, equipment room, coaches’ and staff offices, position and group meeting rooms, catering kitchen, and showcase lobby. The team room will also function as a gameday club seating area, which will produce revenue for the benefit of all 17 programs. The expanded Barker Hall will also allow the current footprint to be repurposed and revitalized for several other programs and functions.
Construction is expected to be completed in time for the 2020 football season.
For Rebowe, who was DHS head coach from 1992-1994 and whose overall tenure at the school spanned from 1988-1994, this is his second run at Nicholls, the first spent as an assistant coach from 1995-2000. After assistant coaching tenures at Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette, he was hired in 1995 to head the Nicholls program, as the 11th head coach in its history.
The Colonels have been on an upward swing throughout his time at the helm. His first season produced a 3-8 record, and the second 5-6—but year two saw a winning conference record. Nicholls broke through in his third year, going 8-4 overall, 7-2 in conference play, and earning a bid to the Division I FCS playoffs.
2018 marked the first time ever Nicholls qualified for the postseason in back to back years. Its 49-30 first round win over San Diego is the first playoff win since 1986. Rebowe is 25-22 overall at the school, only the second head coach in school history to hold a career winning record (Sonny Jackson is the other, from 1981 to 1986, going 39-28-1).
Defense is Rebowe’s trademark, in particular his work with defensive backs. In 1996, his tenure as defensive backs coach coincided with Nicholls ranking seventh in the nation in defensive passing efficiency. In 2005, while coaching safeties with ULL, he helped craft the 11th best passing defense in the nation, one that allowed just 190 yards per game. He’s coached a number of successful corners and safeties who went on to be drafted or signed to the NFL level, chief among them Chris Harris, former ULM cornerback who has evolved into one of the league’s elite cornerbacks with the Denver Broncos.
Of course, his days as Destrehan head coach also coincided with the tenure of another famous DB – Ed Reed, the now NFL Hall of Famer. Rebowe went 26-11 during his time at Destrehan, including a run to the Class 5A championship game in 1993.
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