Stephen Nicholas
 Nicholas with the Atlanta Falcons in 2013 | |||||||||||||
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Defensive quality control coach | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | May 1, 1983 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 236 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Lee (Jacksonville) | ||||||||||||
| College | South Florida | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2007: 4th round, 109th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]Nicholas was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft with the 109th overall pick.[1] 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.[2]
NFL career statistics
[edit]| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | 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 |
| 101 | 50 | 378 | 284 | 94 | 8.0 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | ||
Playoffs
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | 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 |
| 4 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
Coaching career
[edit]In 2018, Nicholas was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be their defensive quality control coach.
Personal life
[edit] | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (January 2015) |
Stephen Nicholas married then Irene Ledbetter (2007) and have 4 children. Nicholas is also a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
References
[edit]- ^ "2007 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
- ^ Florio, Mike (February 5, 2014). "Falcons dump Asante Samuel, Stephen Nicholas". Profootballtalk.com. Retrieved February 5, 2014.