Nicklas Vincent Tiano (born December 10, 1996) is 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who is a free agent. 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 ...

for

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

before transferring to

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. He also played for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

of 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), and had brief stints with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

Early life and high school

Tiano was born on December 10, 1996, in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. He played high school football for

Baylor School Baylor School, commonly called Baylor, is a private, coeducational college-preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded in 1893, the school currently sits atop a 690-acre campus and enrolls students in grades 6-12, including boarding stu ...

in Chattanooga. He was the top quarterback recruit for the class of 2015 in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

at Baylor School. He was a consensus three-star athlete. In his senior season he was 137 of 224 for 2,096 yards, sixteen touchdowns, and three touchdowns in 2014. He committed to

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

in June 2014.

College career

Mississippi State

In 2015, Tiano was redshirted. In 2016, Tiano saw action in four games for the Bulldogs. He completed his singular pass attempt on the season for five yards against

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. After the season he announced that he would transfer from Mississippi State after not seeing much action that year.

Chattanooga

On December 5, 2016, Tiano announced he would transfer to

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...

to play for the Mocs. He started his career off at Chattanooga started the first four games of the season in place of suspended Alejandro Bennifield. In his first four starts he went 87 of 158 for 873 yards, he had six touchdowns to six interceptions as well. He made his first collegiate start against No. 5 ranked Jacksonville State, he went 23 of 43 for 218 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in a 13–27 loss. He also started against No. 12

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, UT Martin, and VMI, the team would lose 10–45 against LSU, 7–21 against UT Martin, but would win 63–7 against

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly kn ...

opponent VMI. He also started against

Western Carolina Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

where the team lost 7–45, Tiano left the game early due to injury. Tiano would miss the last six games of the season as the team would finish 3–8 (3–5 in conference play). In 2018, Tiano's junior season, he played in all eleven games for the Mocs. He went 233 of 378 for 2,710 yards, fifteen touchdowns, and six interceptions. He finished the year third in the SoCon in completions per game (21.2), passing yards per game (246.4), and total offense per game (268.1). He also finished fourth in the SoCon in passing touchdowns (15) and completion percentage (61.6%). His 2,710 passing yards would be good enough for fifth-most in Chattanooga season history, his 233 completions would be third-most, his six interceptions would be the lowest ever by a Mocs' quarterback to throw for 200 passes, alongside his 2,949 would be seventh-most in a season. The team started the season off 4–0, beating

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

34–10,

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

29–28 in overtime, UT Martin 34–24 and No. 17 Samford 27–10. Chattanooga would then lose to East Tennessee State 14–17, they were down 17–0 until they would score fourteen unanswered against the Buccaneers, starting off with a three-yard touchdown pass from Tiano to Bryce Nunnelly. Chattanooga would hold ETSU to a three and out before the Mocs scored a three-yard touchdown run from Tyrell Price to make it 14–17 with four minutes left. They would once again get another stop and would get the ball back with 97 seconds left on the clock. With eleven seconds left Tiano would pass to Joseph Parker who would lateral the ball to Nunnelly who would fumble and would be the end of the game, ending the Mocs' comeback. The team would go on to lose four of their next six to finish the season 6–5, a three win improvement in comparison to the previous year. In 2019, Tiano started all twelve games for Chattanooga going 174 of 329 for 2,242 yards, fourteen touchdowns, and a career-high ten interceptions. He was named to the NFF Hampshire Society after the season. His 2,242 would be good enough for ninth-most in Chattanooga single season history, his 329 pass attempts were good enough for tenth all-time. He also added 384 rushing yards on 85 carries alongside nine rushing touchdowns, compared to only one rushing touchdown his previous four seasons. In November, Tiano was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Month, the first to do so since Derrick Craine four years earlier, after averaging 444.1 yards per game against SoCon opponents. In those four games he had eleven touchdowns, rushing for a touchdown in each of those games. He opened the four game stretch with 164 yards and a touchdown in a loss against No. 13 Furman, then came back next game against Samford where he ran for a career-high 100 yards alongside 296 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Then in a comeback win at The Citadel he throw for 268 yards and two touchdowns, including a 31-yard game-winning touchdown run. He would finish the four game stretch with a loss against VMI where he had two more passing touchdowns and 230 yards through the air. The team finished 6–6. After the season Tiano was invited to the 2020

NFLPA Collegiate Bowl The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game for NFL draft-eligible college players, held annually in January. The event was founded in 2012 by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). Players predom ...

where he won the game's MVP award after going eight for ten for 135 yards and one touchdown.

Statistics

He finished his career ninth in all-time wins with thirteen, seventh all-time in career passing yards with 5,825, fifth in career attempts with 865, fourth in career completions with 494, seventh in career completion percentage with 57.1%, tied sixth in passing touchdowns with 35 alongside Mickey Brokas, tied fifth in career 200-yard passing games with thirteen alongside Brian Hampton, and seventh all-time in total offensive yards with 6,569.

Professional career

Houston Texans

On April 27, 2020, after going undrafted in the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

, Tiano signed with the

of the

(NFL). On July 27, 2020, he was waived by the Texans.

Toronto Argonauts

After being released by the Texans, Tiano signed with the

of the

(CFL) on February 15, 2021. On July 20, 2021, he was cut by the Argonauts during the first wave of training camp cuts.

Montreal Alouettes

On July 30, 2021, Tiano was signed to the

' practice roster. On September 21, 2021, he was released from the team to make room for

Shea Patterson Shea Christopher Patterson (born January 17, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines (2018–2019) and the Ole M ...

St. Louis BattleHawks

During the supplemental draft after the 2023 XFL Draft Tiano was assigned to the St. Louis BattleHawks of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. Tiano led the BattleHawks to a Week 8 overtime win during the

2023 XFL season The 2023 XFL season is the league's second season, the first planned under its new ownership group of Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale (RedBird Capital), and the third in the history of the XFL brand created and originally owned by ...

but days later was placed on injured reserve. He was released on February 12, 2024.

Career statistics

Personal life

Tiano is the son of Jan and Vince Tiano, he has one sister. He majored in business management. He is currently the founder and head coach of 423 Performance.

References

External links

Mississippi State Bulldogs bio

Chattanooga Mocs bio

CFL bio

423 Performance bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiano, Nick 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Chattanooga, Tennessee American football quarterbacks Chattanooga Mocs football players Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Houston Texans players Montreal Alouettes players Toronto Argonauts players St. Louis Battlehawks players Canadian football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Tennessee