ROUSES_SeptOct2019_Magazine

Tim Rebowe is a Game Changer by LUKE JOHNSON, photo by channing candies It was as good a sign as any that things have changed in Thibodaux, Louisiana: The first words spoken by the Nicholls State football coach regarded satisfaction and the need to avoid it. S atisfaction was a foreign concept around Thibodaux in those lean decades before Tim Rebowe’s 2015 arrival. Nicholls experienced exactly four winning seasons in the quarter-century before Rebowe got there. He inherited a Colonels program in the midst of a particularly ignominious 18-game losing streak, during which they were outscored by an average of 30.9 points per game. The last night of the pre-Rebowe era was a fitting disaster: A 62-3 shellacking at the hands of rival Southeastern, at home no less, to clinch an 0-12 season. Rebowe was in town that night, but opted to stay at the hotel instead of going out to watch the game. The next day, Nicholls State announced him as its 10th head football coach. What does a man tell his friends and colleagues when he takes on such a daunting challenge? The truth: There was nowhere to go but up. “You can come in and try to change the mind-set a little bit, change the culture,” Rebowe said. “It had to be changed. Everybody was negative. Nicholls around the state, around the conference, was not really well respected.” What has transpired since is a testament to the power of optimism, and Rebowe — a spry 56-year-old whose bright white crew cut makes him easy to pick out in a crowd of young players — is filled to the brim with the stuff. On that team that had lost 18 straight games, he saw some good players who simply lacked the cohesive elements that make a strong unit, so he set to work implementing a sense of camaraderie and trust. On the recruiting trail, Rebowe sold a dream of what the program could be and found some key buyers. He assembled a coaching staff that reinforced his positive mind-set. Four years later, Nicholls is on the heels of back-to-back winning seasons — the first time that could be said of the Nicholls program since it was a member of the now-defunct Gulf Star conference in the mid-80s. Rebowe’s team hosted its first playoff game in program history in 2017, then did it again in 2018. The Colonels were the unanimous pick to repeat as Southland Conference champions this season in the league’s preseason poll. Rebowe’s team had nowhere to go but up, and he successfully illuminated the path to the ladder. Now the trick is keeping the eyes focused on the top rung. ONE OF US It takes only a few seconds and a discerning ear to figure out why Rebowe is a good fit in Thibodaux. His accent immediately points to some South Louisiana roots. That is important in a place like Thibodaux. “You’ve got to be able to speak the language,” Rebowe said. Trace Bayou Lafourche out of Thibodaux and hang a left at Raceland to hop on Highway 90 eastbound. Drive through Des Allemands and Boutte, then take 310 north to Norco, Louisiana — a roughly 45-mile trip to Rebowe’s hometown.

That’s where he and his brother, Rusty Rebowe — who earned All-American status as a Nicholls State linebacker in the ’70s — first developed a love for football. And in all of Rebowe’s years coaching, he has rarely strayed very far from that starting point. His first football coaching job was as the head coach at Harry Hurst Middle School. That led to jobs at Destrehan High School, Nicholls State (as an assistant on Darren Barbier’s staff), University of Louisiana Monroe and University of Louisiana Lafayette. Remark- ably, he has never left the state in a coaching career that now spans more than three decades. The by-product of all that time spent mostly in place is a fortified network of relationships. “These [high school coaches] trusted me and said, ‘Hey, he’s one of us,’” Rebowe said. “Then you go back and recruit those schools. I built all those relationships, even in the years I was at ULM and ULL, you kept that relationship and you treated people the right way. “And they don’t forget that. So it was easy when I got the head coaching job. These guys wanted Nicholls to recruit their school, recruit their players and have a place for them to play.” His earliest classes included some foundational players to build around, including quarterback Chase Fourcade, the 2018 Southland Conference Player of the Year, and All-American defensive lineman Sully Laiche; both players were part of Rebowe’s second signing class and now figure to be instrumental in Nicholls’ 2019 success as seniors. Rebowe has used Louisiana’s vast pool of football talent to build up his program; all but six players on Nicholls’ current roster attended a Louisiana high school. “I think it matters,” said Nicholls State Athletic Director Matt Roan. “He understands our community, our region and everything inside of that. When he goes to high schools, the high school coaches appreciate him, they know he cares about the place and their student athletes.” That Rebowe is a product of South Louisiana is not lost on the community he lives in, either. Donny Rouse, CEO of Rouses Markets and a Thibodaux resident, felt the excitement in the community when Rebowe took the job. Not only excitement, but comfort in having a local man lead the football team out of the dark place it was in. Rebowe is Rouse’s neighbor, which gives him an up-close and personal glimpse at the way the community and its football coach have embraced each other. “The whole atmosphere about Nicholls football has turned around,” Rouse said. “People are tailgating before the games, people are going to the games, they’re traveling to away games. It’s exciting to have that in Thibodaux.” RIGHT NOW One can learn something about a person by taking stock of the things they surround themselves with. Rebowe’s office in Barker Hall on Nicholls State’s campus is sparse when it comes to trinkets and per- sonal mementos, but it speaks to the type of character he has been trying to establish in his program. The white board to the side of his desk is filled with reminders and motivational one-liners in neat, block handwriting. Framed news clippings hang on the walls to commemorate big wins and pride in the program. A sword — like the one in the Colonels’ logo — with gold inlay on the black pommel and sheath hangs above his desk. “One day it was shipped to my house,” Rebowe said. “It was anonymous, I couldn’t find who it was from, but it has to be a big supporter.”

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SEPTEMBER•OCTOBER 2019