JSerra makes historic hire by selecting Verbum Dei grad Hardy Nickerson as its new football coach
JSerra makes historic hire by selecting Verbum Dei grad Hardy Nickerson, shown as an assistant on the Chicago Bears staff in 2007, as its new football coach.(Getty Images / Getty Images)Hardy Nickerson, a Verbum Dei grad who played linebacker at Cal, made the Pro Bowl five times, coached in college and the NFL and did two stints as head coach at Bishop O'Dowd in Oakland, has been named head football coach at JSerra.
Nickerson, 60, becomes the first Black head football coach in the Trinity League since it was formed in 2008.
"I've been around a lot of football and coached literally at every level," he said. "We're in the most competitive league in the country, the SEC of high school football, but at the same time, it's about building young men and mentoring them. You get to really have great teachable moments in this space."
JSerra is hoping to strike gold like Santa Margarita did in hiring Heisman Trophy winner and 15-year NFL quarterback Carson Palmer, who delivered a Southern Section Division 1 championship and CIF state championship Open Division bowl win this year in his rookie season as head coach. Palmer used his NFL connections to put together a top-notch group of assistant coaches.
Verb will always support Verb! 83' Head Coach, Hardy Nickerson & 99' WR Coach, Ricky Williams are State Champions!! Bishop O'Dowd Football
- Gary Parks (@ParksGary73) December 13, 2025
Fly high pic.twitter.com/bRAWVAMgvG
Nickerson also has lots of NFL connections and far more coaching experience than Palmer. He once was defensive coordinator at Illinois, served as an NFL assistant with the 49ers, Bears and Buccaneers and and has been head coach at Bishop O'Dowd from 2010-13 and from 2022 through this season, when his team won a state Division 5-AA championship.
He said his phone has been busy hearing from lots of Verbum Dei grads. He graduated from the Los Angeles school in 1983.
"They're fired up," he said.
He takes over a program that went 3-7 last season and cut ties with former Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz. Nickerson will soon learn that coaching in the Trinity League is similar to college and the NFL, where teams expect to win or there is little assurance of keeping a job for long.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.