Seth Thibodeaux: The road to Nicholls

Seth Thibodeaux, Nicholls baseball head coach, has one goal: to change the way people think about the baseball program at Nicholls.

Thibodeaux took over the program back in 2011 and lead the Colonels to their best season in over a decade.

“I want people to quit having small-minded thoughts about this program, and when we do that, we won’t lose to LSU in the 9th inning,” Thibodeaux said.

However, before putting his faith in the Colonels and becoming the head coach, Thibodeaux experienced a long baseball journey.

Thibodeaux has always had baseball running through his veins. Ever since he was a child, he “was infatuated with college baseball on TV every summer.”

Baseball became his everyday inspiration and entertainment, and with baseball always being around him, he does not remember a time where he has not played baseball.

“I’ve never not played before. I went to every camp that I could go to. I remember watching the local high school team growing up, thinking those are gods, so I was always amazed by them,” Thibodeaux said. “I remember watching the Cubs on afternoons after school and remember listing to the Astros on the radio. It’s always been there for me.”

But things seemed to change as he got older.

In high school, football became a big part of his life, and he was stuck between choosing baseball or football.

However, as he came close to his senior year of high school, he ended up choosing his childhood passion above football, despite having opportunities in both sports.

“I got to high school and really started thinking about playing college football, but I realized I wasn’t good enough. I had some small opportunities in football, but I also had some small opportunities in baseball, so I chose the baseball route,” Thibodeaux said.

Thibodeaux played for and graduated from William Carey College in Hattiesburg, Miss., and played professional baseball for a year afterward. He started coaching for Pearl River Community College in 2003, marking the beginning of his coaching career.

Despite playing professional baseball, Thibodeaux had always known that he was going to be a coach.

“[I started coaching] because I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. This was the industry that I was made for. I wasn’t made for offices and sales and things like that. Nothing else ever interested me. I knew I wanted to be a coach, probably already in 8th grade,” Thibodeaux said.

It was only a few years later that Thibodeaux had the opportunity to coach against the Colonels, and he immediately had the feeling that Nicholls had something special to offer.

“I remember coaching against them and their record not being very good, but I remember seeing the amount of people watching still being energetic about it, and I remember them coming to the place that I was coaching and the amount of “reds” there were in the stands, and I was really impressed,” Thibodeaux said.

When an opportunity opened for Thibodaux to coach the Colonels, he knew that he had to join the Nicholls community, despite the challenges that he might face.

“…never regretted a second of it ever since,” Thibodeaux said. “It has been a joy and treat.”

With years under his belt for the red and grey, Thibodeaux is still trying to get to the top, with the ultimate goal of winning the Southland Conference Championship. Even though he has not been able to get there yet, he has led his players to believe in the same goal.

“As a leader and head coach, I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else, you know. He’s in war with his players and enjoys the process the same as us,” junior pitcher Zach Autin said.

Moreover, Autin said Thibodeaux has been a great role model for him, who hopes to also become a coach one day.

“I’ve always wanted to be a coach. I’ve learned a lot from coach Thib, not only baseball-related, but also as a person. I’m very proud to be one of his players, and I’m proud that he chose me to be part of his program,” Autin said.