Nicholson Hired As ISU Football Strength and Conditioning Coach

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State football program will have a new face guiding its strength and conditioning efforts, as Matt Nicholson has been hired as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for ISU athletics and will work directly with Redbird football.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to work with a program with a winning pedigree at the national level," Nicholson said. "This feels like a great fit for me and my style, and the fact there are a couple coaches on the staff that I have previous relationships helps a lot. I'm ready to get to Normal, hit the ground running and start working with our student-athletes, coaching staff, and strength staff to continue to move this program forward."

Nicholson is no stranger to working with top-level FCS programs, as he spent the past five seasons as the Montana football program's strength and conditioning coach. While at Montana, he worked with Redbird defensive coordinator Travis Niekamp and defensive line coach Brian Hendricks.

"Matt came highly recommended from Travis and Brian from the time they spent with him at Montana and my former teammate Kevin Sumlin gave him rave reviews," ISU head coach Brock Spack stated. "He's very smart, tough and a hard worker which I think he learned from his playing days as a walk-on and has transferred that to his coaching career. It seems like the players at his previous stops really engaged with him and bought into what he was trying to accomplish, and I have no doubts our players here will do the same."

Prior to his stint at Montana, Nicholson spent time at the Colorado School of Mines in 2015 where he coached the linebackers and also directed the strength and conditioning program for the football team, in addition to other sports, for two years. In his last season at Mines, the Orediggers went 10-2 and tied for the conference championship with an 8-1 league record and advanced to the NCAA playoffs. 
                
He headed to Golden after spending years as an assistant coach at his alma-mater Houston. He spent nine months as a weight room assistant before joining the football staff as a graduate assistant. There, he assisted with the linebackers in 2011 and helped the club to rank amongst national leaders in sacks, tackles-for-loss and interceptions. Additionally, the Cougars posted a 13-1 record and won the Ticket City Bowl against Penn State in the 2011 campaign. In 2012, he was a defensive backs assistant, before returning back to a linebacker assistant in 2013. Following his playing career, Nicholson was selected to be the head football coach for the Houston Youth Impact Program in 2011, which was designed to mentor at-risk youth by combining academic and life skills tutoring with football skills. 
                
A linebacker at Houston from 2006-2010, he racked up 179 tackles in his career despite missing 20 games his final three seasons due to injuries. Starting his career as a walk-on and progressing to a scholarship player, he played in 47 career games for the Cougars and served as a team captain during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He was named Tom Wilson Offseason MVP in both 2009 and 2010 and was also named Houston's special teams player of the year in 2006 as a true freshman walk-on. He was also a 2010 Burlsworth Trophy nominee, which is awarded to college football's most outstanding player who began their career as a walk-on.
                
The Plano, Texas, native earned his bachelor's degree in sport administration from Houston in 2010 and later gained a master's degree in human resource development from Houston in 2013. He is a National Strength and Conditioning Association Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, is a USA Weight Lifting Level 1 Sports Performance Coach and is certified as a Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist. 

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