Stephen Nicholas
{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1983)}}
{{for|the actor|Stephen Nicholas (actor)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Stephen Nicholas
| image = Stephen Nicholas 2013.jpg
| caption = Nicholas with the Atlanta Falcons in 2013
| current_team = Tampa Bay Buccaneers
| number =
| position = Defensive quality control coach
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1983|05|01}}
| birth_place = Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 3
| weight_lbs = 236
| high_school = Lee (Jacksonville)
| college = South Florida
| draftyear = 2007
| draftround = 4
| draftpick = 109
| pastteams =
- Atlanta Falcons ({{NFL Year|2007}}–{{NFL Year|2013}})
| pastcoaching =
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers ({{NFL Year|2018}}–present)
Defensive quality control
| statlabel1 = Total tackles
| statvalue1 = 378
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 8.0
| statlabel3 = Forced fumbles
| statvalue3 = 5
| statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries
| statvalue4 = 4
| statlabel5 = Interceptions
| statvalue5 = 2
| pfr = NichSt99
}}
Stephen Leron Nicholas (born May 1, 1983) is an American professional football coach and former player who is the defensive quality control coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played seven seasons in the NFL as a linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons.
Nicholas played college football for the South Florida Bulls. He was selected by the Falcons in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft.
Early life
Nicholas played high school football at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida. As a senior, he was a class 3A all-state linebacker and was invited to play in the Shrine Bowl.
College career
Nicholas played college football at the University of South Florida. During his senior year, he was a Big East first-team selection. He finished his college career with 326 tackles, 20 sacks, and a school record 53.5 tackles for loss.
Professional career
Nicholas was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=2007 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2007/draft.htm |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He finished his rookie year with 37 tackles and one sack. In 2008, he saw action in all 16 games during the season. In 2009, he started 14 games, totaling 82 tackles, 3 sacks. He started his first career game against Miami on September 13. Nicholas was released by the Falcons after seven seasons on February 5, 2014.{{cite news |author=Florio, Mike |title=Falcons dump Asante Samuel, Stephen Nicholas |url=http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/05/falcons-dump-asante-samuel-stephen-nicholas/ |work=Profootballtalk.com |date=February 5, 2014 |accessdate=February 5, 2014}}
NFL career statistics
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend |
| Bold
| Career high |
=Regular season=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="5"| Tackles !colspan="5"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 2007 | ATL
| 13 || 0 || 33 || 29 || 4 || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2008 | ATL
| 16 || 0 || 20 || 16 || 4 || 1.0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2009 | ATL
| 16 || 13 || 80 || 65 || 15 || 3.0 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2010 | ATL
| 16 || 11 || 78 || 64 || 14 || 0.0 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2011 | ATL
| 10 || 8 || 35 || 17 || 18 || 0.0 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2012 | ATL
| 16 || 15 || 97 || 72 || 25 || 2.0 || 5 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 3 || 4 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2013 | ATL
| 14 || 3 || 35 || 21 || 14 || 1.0 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 101 | 50 | 378 | 284 | 94 | 8.0 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
=Playoffs=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team !colspan="2"| Games !colspan="5"| Tackles !colspan="5"| Interceptions !colspan="4"| Fumbles | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |
| 2008 | ATL
| 1 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2010 | ATL
| 1 || 1 || 5 || 4 || 1 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2012 | ATL
| 2 || 2 || 8 || 5 || 3 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 4 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Coaching career
In 2018, Nicholas was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be their defensive quality control coach.
Personal life
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=January 2015}}
Stephen Nicholas married then Irene Ledbetter (2007) and have 4 children. Nicholas is also a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
References
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080421093756/http://www.atlantafalcons.com/People/Players/Active/Stephen_Nicholas.aspx Atlanta Falcons bio]
- [http://www.gousfbulls.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=37330&SPID=2981&DB_OEM_ID=7700&ATCLID=216523&Q_SEASON=2006 USF Bulls bio]
{{Falcons2007DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Stephen}}
Category:Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida
Category:American football linebackers
Category:South Florida Bulls football players
Category:Riverside High School (Florida) alumni