JSerra Catholic (Calif.) names former NFL linebacker new head football coach

JSerra Catholic (Calif.) has named Hardy Nickerson Sr. as its new head football coach, according to multiple reports.

Nickerson, who spent more 16 seasons in the NFL, just won a state title in California, leading Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland. The Dragons went 11-4 and claimed the CIF 5-AA championship. They also won 10 games in the 2024 season. Nickerson returned to O’Dowd in 2022 after a previous stint at the school from 2010-13.

A Compton native, Nickerson attended Verbum Dei High School and played college football at Cal from 1983-36. The linebacker was a 5th-round pick in the 1987 NFL Draft and went on to play in the league for over a decade-and-a-half and was a five-time Pro Bowl selection. He had stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers. Nickerson was named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.

After retiring in 2002, Nickerson took a break but made his coaching debut in 2007, joining the Chicago Bears’ staff. He then returned to California in 2010 for his first stint as head coach of Bishop O’Dowd. He then returned to the NFL ranks for a few seasons and then spent 2017-18 with Illinois as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He returned to O’Dowd in 2022.

The Dragons emerged with a 10-win campaign last fall and hit their peak with a state title run this season. After a 1-3 start, O’Dowd kicked it into gear and won 10 of its last 11 games. It defeated El Cajon Christian 37-0 on Dec. 12 to win the 5-AA title.

At the beginning of November, JSerra Catholic parted ways with Victor Santa Cruz, who spent the last three seasons at the helm of the Lions. They went 3-7 this fall and 14-18 overall under Santa Cruz. One of the more notable programs in the Golden State, JSerra finished as the No. 32 team in the state, per the Rivals Composite Rankings.

Competing in the vaunted Trinity League, JSerra hasn’t won more than six games in each of the last seven seasons. In 2014, the Lions won a program-record 10 games under Jim Hartigan. Nickerson is slated to become the seventh head coach in program history, which started in 2003.

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