William J. Nicks

William James Nicks (August 2, 1905 – November 2, 1999) was an American college football player and coach. He coached at historically black colleges in the Southern United States from 1930 to 1965. Nicks served as the head football coach at Morris Brown College in Georgia (1930–1935, 1937–1939, 1941–1942) and at Prairie View A&M University in Texas (1945–1947, 1952–1965). He was the NAIA Football Coach of the Year in 1963 and his teams were declared the black college football national champions six times. Nicks was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1999.

Playing career Nicks competed in high school and college football for Morris Brown College, playing end and halfback while being the team punter. He also competed on the Morris Brown College basketball, baseball, and track and field teams.

Coaching career Morris Brown Nicks took first collegiate head coaching position at his alma mater, Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia. Nicks was head football coach at Morris Brown from 1930 to 1935, again from 1937 to 1939, and for two more years in 1941 and 1942. His record at Morris Brown was 67–22–13. His 1941 team was named "Black College National Champions" by Pittsburgh Courier.

Prairie View A&M Nicks was the eighth head coach at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, serving 17 seasons in two stints, from 1945 to 1947 and 1952 to 1965. His career record at Prairie View was 126–36–8—far and away the winningest coach in school history.

Nicks led the Panthers to five black college national titles and six Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. In his day, he was reckoned as the HBCU answer to Bear Bryant; indeed, his .787 winning percentage was slightly higher than Bryant's .780. This was partly because he had the pick of nearly every good black high school player in Texas in the days of segregation. His teams were among the few who held their own against Eddie Robinson's powerhouses at Grambling; Robinson later said that he dreaded playing Prairie View. While the end of Jim Crow caused a severe talent drain for HBCUs, Nicks was able to stem the tide for a time. He did so by relying on his former players who had gone into coaching; at one point nearly all of the black high school coaches in Texas had played for him. He often called his former players to send their best prospects to "The Hill," and wasn't above threatening to have them fired if they didn't do so. He died on November 2, 1999, in Houston, where he was buried.

Head coaching record