Catching a wave

As a freshman football player three years ago, Kendall Ardoin came into the Tulane program like a deer caught in headlights.
Now, the Junior tight end can honestly say that he has become one of the wise old mentors, ready to give advice to any younger player that seeks it out.
“Back when I first arrived here, I was just running around trying to figure it out,” stated Ardoin. “Now that I have three solid years under my belt, it is so much easier. The older players like myself watch the younger guys and laugh a little bit, because we know what they are going through. But, it is fun being someone that they can come to and ask our advice or help with things they don’t understand.”
Ardoin entered Tulane in 2014 and was red-shirted his freshman season. During his second year there, Ardoin played in all 12 games with eight starts while hauling in six catches for 52 yards and two scores. He was fourth on the team in touchdown receptions.
Last season as a red-shirt sophomore, Ardoin started in nine of 10 games played and finished with four receptions for 80 yards. Because of a revised run heavy system brought in with a brand new coaching staff, Ardoin caught only one touchdown pass. That touchdown came versus Memphis on Oct. 14.
The 2016 season took a toll on Ardoin as he and one other player were the only tight ends on the roster, which meant that Ardoin took the majority of the snaps, mostly as a blocker.
“At the end of the season, my body was telling me it was time for it to end,” said Ardoin. “We only had two tight ends and the other guy was hurt. So, that meant I had to take 90 percent of the snaps. We were literally pulling other position players and trying to turn them into tight ends.”
“Don’t get me wrong, everyone wants to be in the game,” he continued. “But, when you play right at 100 plays per game, it takes a toll on your body.”
This season, the coaching staff has decided to open the offense up more and begin passing the ball more often. What that means is that Ardoin will not always be at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield utilizing his blocking abilities as much.
“I am excited about us going to more of a passing game this year,” commented Ardoin. “They are going to try and put us (the tight ends) in space and create some mismatches. We were running the ball about two-thirds of the time last year, so this will be different. I don’t mind the blocking part of the game, but it sure will be fun to be spread out catching passes.”
Tulane will return eight offensive starters, including leading rusher Dontrell Hillard, and eight defensive starters. With that experience coming back this season, Ardoin is excited about what the Green Wave can do this year.
“It’s going really well this fall camp,” stated Ardoin. “We have a lot of returning starters, so that will be a big plus for us going into the season. Our last fall camp practice is this weekend. From here on out, we will be mainly game planning for our opening game against Grambling.”
As his football career continues in the positive direction, Ardoin’s academic career is blasting forward like a rocket ship. The double major will graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and will have his bachelor’s degree in Marketing this coming May. On top of that, Ardoin will have a minor in Management.
“By finishing those two degrees ahead of time, I will be able to start working on my master’s degree my senior season,” Ardoin noted. “That means that my scholarship will help pay for me to get at least four semesters of graduate work. That is such a huge deal for me.”
After college Ardoin hopes to turn his degree into a career as a financial adviser. He will be doing an internship in that area in December between semesters.
Not bad for a small town boy from Flat Town.