Dave Nicholl, who was hired last December to be Lincoln Riley’s reception coach at USC, died Friday. He was only 45 years old.
Nicole walked away from the team indefinitely earlier this week due to what was described as a “private medical issue”. The announcement of Nicole’s departure came a day before USC began spring training on Tuesday.
“We are devastated and devastated. Dave was an amazing human being and a great football coach. He absolutely loved the game and continually poured his heart and soul into his teams. We will miss him greatly. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. We, as a program, are looking forward to playing and training for him as we move forward,” Riley said in a statement issued by the school.
In addition to being discharged from school, Riley also conveyed his grief in a post on his personal Twitter page.
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Prior to joining USC, Nicole spent two seasons in Mississippi and three seasons in Washington State as an assistant under Mike Leach. leach issued a statement As well as following up on the news of Nicole’s death.
Dave Nicholl recently passed away from a sudden battle with a number of health issues. We were amazed by this, and Dave meant so much to all of us,” said Leitch.
“While we all go through the pain of this loss, our thoughts and prayers are with Dave’s family, friends, players and coaches during this difficult time. Dave was family to us, and was loved by everyone who knew him. He always had a smile on his face, Dave had such a positive personality and attitude. He has made everyone around him a better person and influenced every person he met with kindness, loyalty and friendship. He has meant a loss to me as well as countless others, and I will be forever grateful to have him in my life for the past 22 years. He has been among my first crew At Texas Tech. Dave went way too soon. We lost a great friend, a coach, and a great guy all around. Rest in peace my friend. We really miss you.”
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