The Office of Media Relations for Athletics at Nicholls State University is responsible for the day-to-day publicity efforts of 15 Division I sports. The primary function of the Nicholls State Sports Information Office is to service and accommodate the media in its coverage of the entire Colonel and Lady Colonel Athletic department.
The Media Relations Office, located in Barker Hall and in Stopher Gym, handles a myriad of press services, including, but not limited to, the issuing of credentials, the publication of media guides, game programs and press notes as well as maintaining statistics and upkeeping the website. Members of the Media Relations Office will assist you with any day-of-game needs, including player and coach information, in-game statistics and post-game notes and quotes. Journalists and media covering Nicholls University Athletics benefit from working in a professional and comfortable environment.
Members of the Sports Information staff are on call virtually every day of the year, 'round the clock, in an effort to enhance the coverage of Nicholls Athletics.
Please adhere to the following guidelines when covering Colonel athletics during the 2008-09 season.
During the Week
All of Nicholls' athletic squads usually practice Tuesday through Friday depending on sport and competitions during the week. The Nicholls football team practices Tuesday through Thursday on the practice fields across the parking lot from Guidry Stadium. Practice will generally take place from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. All practices are open to the media and public with the understanding the strategy, formations, plays and personnel adjustments are to remain private.
Interviews with Nicholls head coached and Colonel student-athletes can be conducted either before or after practice. All interviews MUST be conducted on the field or on the court. The Nicholls locker room and training room are OFF LIMITS to members of the media at all times.
Telephone interviews with head coaches and Colonel student-athletes will try to accomadate both parties as best as possible. Please let Brandon Rizzuto know in advance what players you wish to interview and the appropriate arrangements will be made. Home telephone numbers of players and coaches will not be released to the media. All head coaches, along with the media relations department, will try their best to be available for out-of-town radio and newspaper interviews, while student-athletes will only speak with opposing media at their head coaches discretion. As for football, Thomas will take part in the Southland Conference Call on Tuesday mornings to handle all out-of-town media. In 2007, the Nicholls coach occupied the 10:47-10:53 a.m. time slot. As of press time, details of the call are not final.
Also, All student-athlete interviews will be scheduled around classes and other academic commitments.
Media and Student-Athletes
Coaches and University officials cannot make comments on prospective student-athletes until they sign a National Letter of Intent. A coach cannot comment on a prospective student-athlete who verbally commits to an institution.
Coaches and athletic staff are not permitted to write guest columns for publications.
Do not ask student-athletes to list or endorse products. Commercial photographers cannot provide student-athletes with photographs or slides. The sports information office offers a similar service for student-athletes to purchase photographs.
Student-athletes may not be used in advertisements or endorsements of products, including media-related publications or on radio.
Student-athletes are not permitted to conduct interviews for 1-900 services.
During the playing season, a student-athlete may appear on local radio or television programming or engage in writing projects.
Football Tuesday Press Conferences
Nicholls head coach Jay Thomas will be available in Thomas' Barker Hall office on Tuesday's at 11 a.m. to meet with the local media. At this time, Thomas will review the previous week's game and look forward to what lies ahead. At some point during the press conference, an injury report and updated depth chart will be discussed and made available.
Media Credentials
Media credentials for Nicholls home games are issued for WORKING MEDIA ONLY. Sports editors and sports directors of accredited media outlets should submit requests for credentials on company letterhead. Requests for season passes should be submitted as early as possible. Media covering single games for football should submit requests by the Wednesday morning prior to the game. No passes will be issued after Thursday afternoon, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Media who cover Nicholls opponents on a regular basis may request credentials through opponent's sports information offices or through Nicholls. Nicholls follows the guidelines set forth by the NCAA in issuing credentials. In most instances, the Nicholls Office of Sports Information will fill all legitimate requests for credentials.
All credential requests should be sent to: Brandon Rizzuto, Athletics-Barker Building, Nicholls State Sports Information, P.O. Box 2032, Thibodaux, La. 70310.
Visiting Radio
There are two courtesy phone lines available for the official radio station of Nicholls opponents in the press boxes of John L. Guidry Stadium, Stopher Gymnasium, and Ray E. Didier Field. The Colonel Softball Complex does have phone lines, but are set aside for home radio only; however, phone lines can be made available if a request is made by visiting radio in a timely manner. Please inform Brandon Rizzuto or Elizabeth Ballard at least one week in advance if you are planning to make use of any of our phone lines on campus.
Photo Credentials
Photo credentials will be issued only to accredited media outlets--newspaper, television stations and other recognized publications. Nicholls follows NCAA rules regarding sideline photographers. Photographers are not permitted to photograph in the team area, which is located between the 25-yard lines on both sides of the field. All photographers are required to have proper sideline credentials for all sports, and must be able to show them upon being asked. If the person can not display proper identification, he/she will be escorted from the site of competition.
Media Parking
Media parking at John L. Guidry Stadium is available to all credentialed media as is for all other athletic competitions. Requests for submitting parking passes should be made when submitting press and/or photo credential requests. The media parking area is located on the west side of the stadium and is accessible from Audubon Drive. For baseball, softball and both men's and women's basketball, parking does not require a credential and is free of charge.
Media Will Call
The media will call window for John L. Guidry Stadium is located at the southwest ticket office, which is on the right side of the press box entrance when facing the stadium. For events taking place in Stopher Gym, media will call is located at the ticket window as is the same for Ray E. Didier Field and the Colonel Softball Complex. Please be prepared to present proper identification when picking up credentials. The media will call window will open 90 minutes prior to kickoff in football, and 60 minutes in all other sports.
Press Box and Gameday Services
The elevator landing to the Guidry Stadium Press Box is adjacent to the Colonel Club room on the west side of the stadium. Home and visiting radio booths, coaches' boxes and the public address announcer as well as the working press area are located on the second level of the Guidry Stadium press box. The photo deck is located on the fourth level.
Approximately 60 minutes prior to kickoff, a pre-game meal will be served to all credentialed media. Beverages and snacks will be available throughout the entire game as well.
In order to effectively maintain, a professional environment, cheering WILL NOT be tolerated in the press box. If any member is found cheering at any point during the game, they will be asked to leave the press box.
Pre-game packets, including notes, statistics, flip cards and programs, will be made available upon arrival to the press box. A complete play-by-play account of each quarter as well as individual and team statistics will be distributed following each quarter and at halftime. Approximately 20 minutes following the conclusion of the game, full stat books will be made available to the media. Out-of-town scores from around the region and nation for football will be distributed periodically during the game as well.
All requests to fax statistics to local media outlets will be honored as soon as possible following the conclusion of the game. In addition, all athletic press boxes will remain open for 60 minutes following the conclusion of the game for media to file stories. An ample supply of phone lines are available for the purposes of sending stories, and an ethernet outlet is available in Stopher Gym and Ray E. Didier Field as well.
Post-Game Procedures
Both the Nicholls locker room and visiting locker room facilities are located in Barker Hall for football. The visiting locker room is on the west side of Barker Hall and faces Guidry Stadium while the Colonel dressing rooms are located on the east side of Barker Hall. Baseball's locker room is also located in the west side of Barker Hall, while softball's and volleyball's can be found in Shaver Gym. Men's and Women's Basketball have home and visiting locker rooms with the visiting team's located on the north side of the gym across from the official scorers table. Also across from the official scorers table is the media table where local media and visiting media/radio are allocated.
Policies concerning interviews with visiting coaches and student-athletes will be set by sports information representatives of the visiting institution. The Nicholls locker room is CLOSED to the media at all times. At home, Nicholls' head coaches and selected student-athletes will be made available for interviews following the NCAA-mandated 10-minute cooling off period. The interviews will take place in the Nicholls Offensive Meeting Room, located in Barker Hall. ABSOLUTELY NO INTERVIEWS WILL BE CONDUCTED ON THE FIELD. A member of the Nicholls media relations staff will take requests for player interviews with five minutes to play in the contest and will escort media members to interview the selected candidates following the game. Statistics will be made available to media members in the Offensive Meeting Room.
On the road, head coaches and selected student-athletes will meet with the media following the NCAA mandated 10-minute cooling off period in a pre-designated area generally just outside Nicholls' dressing room. Again, no interviews will be conducted on the playing field. Please direct all requests to Brandon Rizzuto of Elizabeth Ballard.
On the Internet
Nicholls athletic information can be accessed through the University's official website, www.geauxcolonels.com. Updated statistics, rosters, bios and game notes can be found at the site as well as other information pertaining to Nicholls sports.
