Covered outdoor training facility latest improvements of athletic facilities at Nicholls

It’s not the kind of thing you expect to see when driving past a university that features a Football Championship Subdivision program.

Under construction just behind the school’s $5.3 million, 20,000-square-foot athletic complex that opened in 2021, rises an 81,000-square-foot covered outdoor training facility.

It’s the latest in a recent line of improvements to athletic facilities at Nicholls. It’s part of approximately $9 million, most of which was state tax money allocated by the Louisiana Legislature, that has been dedicated to Colonel athletics.

The athletic building is called the Boucvalt Family Athletic Complex. Trey Boucvalt, a former assistant coach and businessman, donated $2.5 million to the project in 2019, the single largest donation in the school’s history.

The building houses all football operations, including upgraded locker and training rooms, field-level coaches’ offices and a 110-seat meeting hall. 

The momentum for the upgrades came in part with the arrival of the Manning Passing Academy. The annual camp held on the Nicholls campus in Thibodaux, is put on by Archie Manning, along with sons Cooper, Peyton, and Eli.

The association of the Mannings and the university has paid dividends to the school. One of the earliest noticeable improvements came with the addition of artificial turf to John L. Guidry Stadium.

“When this project came about,” Nicholls football coach Tim Rebowe explained, “there was a couple phases of it and that’s phase two of the project that the funds were already in (place) and with the help of the Mannings and The Shaw Group, the field was provided.

“So that helped us with some of the funds and that’s why they did the naming of the Manning Field with Archie and gave him an honorary degree when they were here for the (recent Manning Passing Academy) camp. But it’s mainly state funds, but that’s from a project that was put in years ago now.”

The covered outdoor facility is right behind the athletic complex, so it will provide convenient access for the football team.

“It’s located right here. Everything can be a one stop shop close for us,” Rebowe said.

The coach emphasized the covered facility is more than just for the football team’s use.

“It’s such a multi-use facility. It’s not just a football facility, it’s across the board,” said Rebowe. The facility – soccer will be able to use it, baseball can go in there. I know basketball is going to get in there and track, along with football. It’s just going to be a tremendous asset to the university, it saves us on field space.”

Most would think the facility’s main feature for the Colonel football team was to beat the south Louisiana heat, but it’s another meteorological phenomenon that causes the greatest concern, especially in the era of player safety.

“And look, we get the storms here in south Louisiana. So those things pop up and all of a sudden, you’re delayed 30 minutes. You’re constantly having to change your schedule and adjust and switch your meetings and go through this and try to come back. It’s very, very difficult. This will allow us to be able to stay on schedule and hopefully be more efficient,” Rebowe said.

The existence of the outdoor facility, Rebowe said, should also help save some wear and tear on Guidry Stadium’s turf.

“We do a lot of walk throughs during the season, and again, you can go into a covered facility and get out off your turf field It’s just going to hopefully save us in the long run,” the Nicholls coach said.

In planning for the design of the new facility, school officials toured a number of similar structures, according to Rebowe.

“There’s some universities that’s close to us (in proximity) that we went visit that have these facilities and they said this is what you need. You really don’t have to have the fully air-conditioned covered facility. You just need something to get out of the weather and be very productive,” Rebowe said.

Those facilities were located at Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

“I don’t know how many FCS schools are going to have a type of facility like this. Hopefully this will give us a little bit of advantage in the competitive recruiting world,” said Rebowe.

Could an indoor practice facility be in the future for the Southland Conference school?

“I guess that would be down the road a bit,” Rebowe said. “I think those things are always built that if you wanted to continue to go to the ground (to add in exterior walls to close in the facility) but then you you’d have to be air conditioned and things that you have to put into it.

“But right now, I don’t think that’s the plan. We will just use it as it is right now.”