Hardy Otto Nickerson Sr. (born September 1, 1965) is an American former football coach and professional player. He played as

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for four teams over 16 seasons, from 1987 to 2002, in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Nickerson spent the prime of his career with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

. The hiring of head coaches

Sam Wyche Samuel David Wyche (; January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American football quarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. As head coach, he ...

and

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...

allowed Nickerson to play in the middle in a

4–3 defense In American football, a 4–3 defense is a defensive alignment consisting of four down linemen and three linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it is the default defensive alignment used on "base downs" (1st and 2nd downs). However, ...

for both coaches; Nickerson played in a

3–4 defense In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down linemen and four linebackers. It is a called a "base defense" because it is the default defensive alignment used on "base downs" (1st and 2nd downs ...

with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While playing in the 4–3, Nickerson went to five Pro Bowls, and was selected for the

National Football League 1990s All-Decade Team The NFL 1990s All-Decade Team was chosen by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team was composed of outstanding performers in the National Football League in the 1990s. The squad consists of first- and second-team offensive, defensive a ...

Early life

Nickerson attended Verbum Dei High School, a Catholic school located in Watts, Los Angeles. He earned a BA degree in sociology from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1989.

Broadcasting and coaching

In 2006, Nickerson became the color analyst for the Buccaneer Radio Network, teaming him with the longtime veteran

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

man Gene Deckerhoff. On February 23, 2007, Nickerson was named linebackers coach of the Chicago Bears, where he coached for his former Tampa Bay position coach,

Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...

. On January 8, 2008, he resigned from the Bears due to health issues within his family. On April 15, 2010, Nickerson was hired as the head football coach at Bishop O'Dowd High School in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, a traditional powerhouse that has produced future NFL players such as Tarik Glenn, Langston Walker, Kirk Morrison, and Eric Bjornson. During Nickerson's tenure, he led the Dragons to back to back league titles and was also responsible for producing nearly 20 scholarship athletes in a period of three years. Nickerson stepped down from the head coaching position on November 18, 2013. Nickerson was named the linebackers coach for the

under Lovie Smith on January 7, 2014. On January 23, 2016, Nickerson was hired by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

as linebackers coach under new head coach

Chip Kelly Charles Edward Kelly (born November 25, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the UCLA Bruins. He came to prominence as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks from 2009 to 2012, whom he led to four consecutive BCS bowl ga ...

. On March 10, 2016, Nickerson was hired by the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

as defensive coordinator under new head coach

. On October 30, 2018, Nickerson announced his resignation as Defensive Coordinator citing health reasons.

Personal life

His son Hardy Nickerson Jr. is a linebacker who has played in the

for the Cincinnati Bengals and the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

References

External links

Illinois profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickerson, Hardy 1965 births Living people American football middle linebackers California Golden Bears football players Chicago Bears coaches Green Bay Packers players Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Jacksonville Jaguars players National Conference Pro Bowl players National Football League announcers Pittsburgh Steelers players Tampa Bay Buccaneers announcers Tampa Bay Buccaneers players High school football coaches in California Players of American football from Compton, California African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football Verbum Dei High School alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients