Novice Lee "Nick" Nicholson (December 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He was the eighth head football coach at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...

, serving for six seasons, from 1956 to 1961, and compiling a record of 28–30–1. Nicholson was born in

Farmersville, Texas Farmersville is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Farmersville originated in 1849 as a settlement on the Jefferson-McKinney Road, and near Republic of ...

and grew up in Greenville. He was co-captain of his high school's football team in 1943 before graduating in 1944 and serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, where he was selected to the

1945 All-Southwest Conference football team The 1945 All-Southwest Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Southwest Conference teams for the 1945 college football season. The selectors for the 1945 season included the Associate ...

as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. Nicholson earned a master's degree in education from North Texas State College—now known as the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

—in 1952.

Head coaching record

College

References

1925 births 2010 deaths American football guards Abilene Christian Wildcats football coaches Rice Owls football players High school football coaches in Texas United States Navy personnel of World War II University of North Texas alumni People from Farmersville, Texas Players of American football from Greenville, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas {{1950s-collegefootball-coach-stub