Shaheen has been defensive fixture for Nicholls despite being red-shirt sophomore

Shortly after Nicholls fell behind 28-21in the third quarter of its game last week against visiting Southeast Missouri State, a Colonel punt pinned the Redhawks at their own 15-yard line.

On third down, Nicholls linebacker Hayden Shaheen came up with a sack, forcing a SEMO punt from the 5-yard line. The Colonel offense quickly took advantage of the field position and scored on a Collin Guggenheim run to tie the game 28-28.

Nicholls would go on to lose the game 35-31, but no one on the Colonels football team was surprised that Shaheen came up with the play. For the game, he had six total tackles, two sacks, two tackles behind the line, and two quarterback hurries.

It’s the kind of performance that has made Shaheen a defensive fixture despite only being a red-shirt sophomore.

“He is just a student of the game,” Nicholls head coach Tim Rebowe said of Shaheen. “He’s not a total rah-rah guy, but he’s a fiery guy at times. He always shows up prepared for meetings. I think he is a good guy in that locker room. The guys respect him. That effort he gives on the field, he’s just a competitor.

“He came from a good high school program in Catholic High (in Baton Rouge). We were very fortunate to get him. We love having him. We’d love to take 10 more of like him if we can.”

“He’s just an incredible young man. We’re very fortunate to have him in the program. He brings a lot to the table. He’s a tremendous leader. He’s a tremendous teammate. He’s also a tremendous football player. Having all three of those things in one package is really, really good for our team, and I’m glad he’s on our side,” Nicholls defensive coordinator Tommy Rybacki said.

Shaheen is the guy who gets the defensive signals from the sideline during games.

“I take a lot of pride in that, but it’s not just me,” said Shaheen. “There are a lot of guys involved in it. Quinton Sharkey doesn’t get a lot of credit as I do sometimes, but most of the time I call the front end, he makes sure the back end of the defense is going right. I make sure everybody tries to get the call in play, get the front lined up because it makes an easier play.”

“He is the signal caller on defense,” Rybacki said. “We will signal the defense to him, and he will help set the front up, make the adjustments up front, and he has a lot to do with the communication in the box before the snap, and even during the week in getting ready to play the game and set the tempo and tone for those guys up front.”

There is flexibility for Shaheed to make some adjustments from a play call, according to Rybacki.

“The majority of what we do comes from the sideline. There is occasionally an adjustment or something that has to be made on the field and that’s usually what he’s able to do. It’s this or that. He’ll make an adjustment for us based on his preparation during the week, what we identified as something we needed to adjust to,” the defensive coordinator explained.

With Rybacki calling the defensive plays, Shaheen said, the need for adjustments is few.

“Coach Rybacki, he probably watches more film than anybody on the team combined, so whatever he calls, I’m going to run it. Sometimes if we don’t get a play in time, we just get in a base call. If everybody runs it right, we are all right and we will make the play,” said Shaheen.

Shaheen has been a starter since his true freshman year in the spring of 2021.

“I thank God every day for that blessing. That was awesome. That was a really cool experience. I kind of got thrown into the fire like another guy who came in with me, Evan Roussel. We kind of both got thrown into that fire our freshman year. I think both of us handled it very well. We kind of took what we brought from high school and kept developing our skills as we went along,” said Shaheen.

“Since Day One, his approach is so mature. It has been since the very first day he was here,” Rybacki said of Shaheen. “That’s probably what allowed him to play so early. He came from a good program that prepared him well for college ball, so I don’t think the transition was all that difficult for him.

“From a mental standpoint, and physically, he was able to hold up, and that’s what gave him the opportunity to play early, and that’s why he’s played so much.”

It’s not that it’s been all smooth sailing for Shaheen. In that 2021 spring season, he missed the opener with a lower arm injury and played the rest of the season with a cast.

“That was not fun, getting three new casts a week. It stunk, itchy all the time, it was not fun,” said Shaheen.

The young linebacker said he did use the cast to his advantage when possible.

“At some points, it was like a little weapon sometimes, trying to get the ball out. At times, it was kind of annoying. It was just a big ole pad wrapped around my arm,” Shaheen said.

He started all 11 games of the 2021 season, finished second on the team with 56 tackles while earning second-team all-conference honors.

Shaheen started the two games of the 2022 season before missing the rest of the year with an injury.

“He hurt his leg in one of the early games and tried to come back and he hurt it again,” Rebowe explained. “He had a good offseason. He rehabbed. He was limited in the spring in what he could do. He had a really good summer, so he’s really healthy right now.”

The Colonel defense could have used Shaheen a year ago. A young defense struggled, resulting with Nicholls finishing with a losing season.

Being unable to participate, Shaheen said, was frustrating.

“It was tough,” he said. “It was a lot of guys I saw who I knew who put in a lot of hard work and things just kind of kept going wrong, wrong, wrong for us. It stunk being on the sideline and not being able to help those guys out at all.

“I think going into this year we made a real big emphasis on our culture and making everybody buy into that. I think the young guys came in and did a good job of that. I think it just kind of went up the ladder.”

After taking their lumps, the young Colonel squad now leads most in most defensive categories in the Southland Conference.

More importantly, that effort has the team 4-0 in Southland play going into Saturday’s game at the University of Incarnate Word, ranked No. 4 in the Football Championship Subdivision, and also 4-0 in the SLC.

“It’s make or break for us,” said Shaheen. “I don’t think anybody is going to be happy with losing this game at all. It’s in our mindset in our locker room that it’s win or go home.”