Former NFL linebacker Hardy Nickerson is the new football coach at JSerra, the school announced Wednesday.
Nickerson, 60, was the head coach at Bishop O’Dowd High in Oakland the past four seasons. Bishop O’Dowd won the CIF State Division 5-AA championship Friday with a 37-0 win over El Cajon Christian at Fullerton High.
Nickerson replaces Victor Santa Cruz, who was dismissed as JSerra’s coach on Nov. 1, one day after completing his third season as the team’s head coach. Santa Cruz was 14-18 at JSerra.
JSerra’s hiring of an ex-NFL player follows the hiring of another ex-NFL player in the Trinity League. Santa Margarita announced the hiring of school alum Carson Palmer as its coach on Dec. 12, 2024. Palmer was an NFL quarterback for 15 seasons.
Santa Margarita won CIF Southern Section and CIF State championships this season and was a Trinity League co-champion.
Nickerson is the first Black head football coach at a Trinity League school.
The Lions finished 3-7 this season. They were last in the six-team Trinity League with an 0-5 league record and had an average margin of loss of 33 points in league games.
Nickerson was Bishop O’Dowd’s head coach in a previous stint for four seasons, 2010-13. Nickerson also has several years of experience as an assistant coach in the NFL.
He was a linebacker in the NFL from 1987-2002. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers. Nickerson was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL’s 1990’s All-Decade Team.
He played college football at Cal and high school football at Verbum Dei in Los Angeles.
JSerra had more than 100 applicants for its football coaching position.
Rumors concerning the school’s candidates included the names of ex-NFL quarterback Drew Brees who is an assistant coach at San Diego County high school Santa Fe Christian where Brees has a son who is a junior, and Philip Rivers. Rivers, who has been a high school coach in Alabama, was the starting quarterback Sunday for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.