Hardy Nickerson

Fumble recoveries:	14
Interceptions:	12

Hardy Nickerson
No. 54, 56
Position:	Los Angeles, California)
College:	California
NFL draft:	1987 / Round: 5 / Pick: 122
Career history
	As player: Pittsburgh Steelers (1987–1992); Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1993–1999); Jacksonville Jaguars (2000–2001); Green Bay Packers (2002); As coach: Chicago Bears (2007) (LB); Bishop O'Dowd HS (CA) (2010–2013) (HC); Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014–2015) (LB); San Francisco 49ers (2016) (LB); Illinois (2016–2018) (DC/LB);
Career highlights and awards
	2× First-team All-Pro (1993, 1997); 2× Second-team All-Pro (1996, 1999); 5× Pro Bowl (1993, 1996–1999); "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year (1997); NFL 1990s All-Decade Team;
Career NFL statistics
Fumble recoveries:
Fumble recoveries:	14
Interceptions:	12
	Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Hardy Otto Nickerson Sr. (born September 1, 1965) is an American former

National Football League 1990s All-Decade Team

.

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

in 1989.

Broadcasting and coaching

In 2006, Nickerson became the

play-by-play 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. 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, a traditional powerhouse that has produced future NFL players such as Tarik Glenn, Langston Walker, Kirk Morrison, and Eric Bjornson.^[3] 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

University of Illinois as defensive coordinator under new head coach Lovie Smith.^[6]^[7]

On October 30, 2018, Nickerson announced his resignation as defensive coordinator citing health reasons.

NFL career statistics

Legend
	Led the league
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games		Tackles					Interceptions				Fumbles
Year	Team	GP	GS	Cmb	Solo	Ast	TFL	Sck	Int	Yds	TD	PD	FF	FR
1987	PIT	12	0	17	–	–	–	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	1
1988	PIT	15	10	99	–	–	–	3.5	1	0	0	–	1	1
1989	PIT	10	8	35	–	–	–	1.0	–	–	–	–	0	0
1990	PIT	16	14	67	–	–	–	2.0	–	–	–	–	2	0
1991	PIT	16	14	94	–	–	–	1.0	–	–	–	–	2	0
1992	PIT	15	15	114	–	–	–	2.0	–	–	–	–	0	2
1993	TB	16	16	214	–	–	–	1.0	1	6	0	–	1	1
1994	TB	14	14	122	86	36	–	1.0	2	9	0	–	1	0
1995	TB	16	16	143	89	54	–	1.5	–	–	–	–	3	3
1996	TB	16	16	120	76	44	–	3.0	2	24	0	–	2	2
1997	TB	16	16	147	105	42	–	1.0	–	–	–	–	2	2
1998	TB	10	10	70	45	25	–	1.0	–	–	–	–	1	1
1999	TB	16	16	110	66	44	6	0.5	2	18	0	5	3	0
2000	JAX	6	6	31	27	4	2	1.0	1	10	0	7	0	0
2001	JAX	15	14	117	89	28	4	0.0	3	4	0	9	1	1
2002	GB	16	15	86	49	37	4	1.5	–	–	–	3	0	0
Career		225	200	1,586	632	314	16	21.0	12	71	0	24	19	14