Anthero "Nick" Nicolau (May 5, 1933 – December 6, 2014) was a longtime

NFL 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 major ...

and

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 ...

assistant coach. He graduated from Southern Connecticut State University. He spent most of the 1960s -'70s coaching at college programs such as Bridgeport (Head Coach), Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky, and

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

. Nicolau broke into the NFL with the New Orleans Saints in 1980 under then head coach Dick Stanfel. He moved on to the Denver Broncos, coaching the running backs from 1981 through 1987. Some of the players he coached included Dave Preston, Sammy Winder, and Steve Sewell. A dispute ended his tenure in Denver. He landed with the Los Angeles Raiders, but got into a dispute with another assistant coach, Art Shell. Shell was supported by owner and managing partner

Al Davis Allen Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American football coach and executive. He was the principal owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) for 39 years, from 1972 until his death in ...

, who fired Nicolau. He then went to the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and served as their wide receivers coach from 1989 to 1991. There he worked with talents such as

Andre Reed Andre Darnell Reed (born January 29, 1964) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Kutztown and was selected b ...

and Don Beebe. It was rumored that Nicolau left Buffalo due to a dispute with offensive line coach Tom Bresnahan who became offensive coordinator the next season. In 1992, he became the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

under head coach

Ted Marchibroda Theodore Joseph Marchibroda (March 15, 1931 – January 16, 2016) was an American football quarterback and head coach in the National Football League (NFL). He spent his four years as an active player with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1953, 1955&nd ...

with whom he worked in Buffalo. He helped the Colts to a 9–7 record in 1992 and an 8–8 record in 1994. He helped develop

Reggie Langhorne Reginald "Reggie" Devan Langhorne (born April 7, 1963), is a former professional American football player. He played in the NFL for 9 seasons from 1985 to 1993, playing for the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts during that time. Colleg ...

as a receiver and worked with quarterback Jeff George as well. In 1994, he helped turn running back

Marshall Faulk Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams. He is widely regarded as one of the grea ...

as a rookie while also working with both

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

and Don Majkowski at quarterback. Nicolau then spent two seasons coaching the tight ends for the Jacksonville Jaguars, helping to develop Pete Mitchell as a blocker and receiver. In 1997, Jaguars offensive coordinator

Kevin Gilbride Kevin Bernard Gilbride (born August 27, 1951) is an American football head coach. He was a coach for twenty years in the NFL, spending seven of them as the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants, with whom he earned two Super Bowl rin ...

became the head coach of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

and Nicolau followed him to California. There he served two years as the Chargers assistant head coach before retiring after the

1998 NFL season The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League. The season culminated with Super Bowl XXXIII, with the Denver Broncos defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34–19 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. The Broncos had won ...

. He died aged 81 on December 6, 2014.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolau, Nick 1933 births 2014 deaths American football running backs Bridgeport Purple Knights football coaches Buffalo Bills coaches UConn Huskies football coaches Denver Broncos coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Los Angeles Raiders coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches New Orleans Saints coaches Southern Connecticut State Owls football coaches Southern Connecticut State Owls football players Sportspeople from New York City Springfield Pride football coaches UMass Minutemen football coaches