Sport(s) Football Name Nick Nicolau 1965–1969 Bridgeport | 1962–1964 Bridgeport (assistant) 1957–1959 Southern Connecticut Positions Running back | |
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Born May 5, 1933
New York City, New York ( 1933-05-05 ) 1960 Southern Connecticut (assistant) 1961 Springfield (assistant) Died December 6, 2014, Wareham, Massachusetts, United States | ||
Anthero "Nick" Nicolau (May 5, 1933 – December 6, 2014) was a longtime NFL and college football 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.
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.
After a dispute that ended his tenure in Denver, he landed with the Buffalo Bills and served as their wide receivers coach from 1989–1991. There he worked with talents such as Andre Reed and Don Beebe.
In 1992, he became the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts under head coach Ted Marchibroda 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 as a receiver and worked with quarterback Jeff George as well. In 1994, he helped turn running back Marshall Faulk as a rookie while also working with both Jim Harbaugh 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 became the head coach of the San Diego Chargers and Nicolau followed him to California. There he served two years as the Chargers assistant head coach before retiring after the 1998 NFL season. He died aged 81 on December 6, 2014.