On Field - Offensive Coordinator, Offesnive Line/ Tight Ends
Off Field - Head Strength and Conditioning, Equipment Operations, Co-Recruiting Coordinator, Football Camp Coordinator
*Coach Nickell is also the certified strength and conditioning coach for LHU Athletics
LHU assistant football Bill Nickell has been alongside head coach Dave Taynor every step of the way at The Haven. For Nickell, the 2019 season marks his fifth with the Bald Eagles.
The headline of the 2018 season was tight end Jalen Jackson who was named an All-American.
Last season, in 2018, Lock Haven was 2-9 overall and 1-5 in PSAC East action. The Bald Eagles' PSAC East win came in their divisional opener (Week 4, Sept. 22) at East Stroudsburg, as they knocked off the hosts, 44-41, in a thriller. LHU closed the 2018 season with another thrilling road victory. Playing in blizzard-like conditions at Gannon, Lock Haven came away with a 50-48 win at Gannon in last year's season-finale. The win over Gannon marked head coach Taynor's first against a PSAC West opponent and Lock Haven's first win against a Western-Division team since the 2007 season-finale at Clarion.
Following a remarkable sophomore season in 2018, Jackson was named to three different All-American Teams after earning First Team All-Region and All-PSAC East honors. Jackson, one of the premier tight ends in all of Division II football and one of the most dynamic offense threats in the PSAC, led all players at the position in the PSAC with seven receiving touchdowns last season. Jackson hauled in 44 catches for 537 yards. Jackson averaged 48.8 receiving yards per game. He capped the season with a three-touchdown game in the thrilling win over Gannon in the season-finale on the road. Back in 2017 as a true-freshman, Jackson hauled in 26 catches for 332 yards.
In all, seven players earned 2018 All-Conference honors and four were named to the All-Region Team.
Highlighting the 2017 season for the Bald Eagles was the selection of five players to the All-Conference team including two who landed on the All-PSAC East First Team.
LHU finished the 2017 season at 2-9 overall (2-5 PSAC East) with both wins coming in PSAC East play.
Leading the way for the Bald Eagles in 2017 was the run-game. LHU finished with 2,182 rushing yards and Lock Haven finished with 198.4 yards per game, which ranked as the fourth-best rushing offense in the PSAC at the end of the regular season. Leading the way was true-freshman quarterback Kyle Knight who rushed for eight touchdowns. Running back John Ford finished with eight rushing TDs as well. As a team, LHU ran for 20 TDs with 18 of 20 coming in the final six games. Also, as a team, Lock Haven recorded three games with 300 or more rushing yards including a single-game school record of 460 (6 rushing TDs) in the win over Cheyney.
In Week 6 action, Lock Haven beat Cheyney, 62-0. It marked the second most points scored in a win, just shy of the 66 points posted in a 2016 victory over East Stroudsburg on the road. The lopsided shutout-win over Cheyney marked LHU's first shutout since Lock Haven blanked the Wolves 28-0 on the road in 2014.
The LHU secondary was sensational all season and led the way for the defense. As a team, Lock Haven recorded 16 interceptions which ranked No. 4 in the PSAC at the end of the regular season. Senior CB Carlos Balkcom had seven of those 16 INTs. Those seven INTs, tied him for No. 3 all-time for a single-season and Balkcom finished his career with 12, which tied for the seventh most in a career.
The 2016 season was a special one for LHU football. The Bald Eagles finished the season at 4-7 overall and Lock Haven finished at 4-3 in PSAC East play.
The four wins were the most since Lock Haven won four games during the 2002 season. The four wins in 2016 were also all PSAC Divisional wins, which marked the most since the 1979 season. Those four PSAC Eastern Division wins included the first win since 2003 over local-rival and perennial NCAA Division II power Bloomsburg and a historic 66-41 win over East Stroudsburg. The 66 points vs. ESU marked a single-game school record.
Following the season, LHU saw four different individual players account for five different All-American selections, including Shawn Seif, Del’Vaughn Dennis, Kevin Chapple and Trent Fielding. Those four, including record-breaking quarterback Caleb Walon, all earned All-Region status. A total of seven players earned All-Conference honors including five who earned a spot on the Eastern Division First Team. The seven total All-PSAC players were the most since LHU had seven total honorees in 2001. The five first-teamers were the most since 1982 when LHU also had five.
Walton, who re-wrote LHU’s record books, was LHU's first quarterback to earn First Team All-PSAC honors since Dan Spittal in 1979. Walton was sensational in 2016 and capped a record-breaking career in style. In all, Walton threw for 3,115 yards, becoming LHU's first quarterback to pass for over 3,000 yards in a single season. Walton's 283.2 passing yards per game led the PSAC East, ranked fourth overall in the PSAC and were the 14th most in NCAA Division II. His 3,115 yards were the 10th most in DII at the end of the regular season. On the season, Walton threw for 21 touchdowns and rushed for five more. The 26 total TDs tied his own single-season school record. Walton finished his career with 8,971 passing yards, the second-most in school history. His 68 career passing TDs and 79 career touchdowns accounted for were both school records.
Other individual highlights included Seif (WR), an AP Little All-American, who became just the second player in school history to go over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season. His 1,282 receiving yards set a single-season record as did his 11 TD-receptions. Linebacker Kevin Chapple was nominated for the 2016 Cliff Harris Award, given annually to the nation's top small college defensive player and Trent Fielding (OL) was nominated for the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year award.
As a team, LHU broke single season records for total points (323 pts.), total offense (4,954 yds.) and team passing offense (3,158 yds.).
Despite the 2-9 overall record, the 2015 season proved that LHU football had embarked on a new journey and the Bald Eagles were without question playing in a new era.
At the time, Lock Haven's 2015 offense went down as the one of the best in school history. LHU set a single-season record with 4,603 total yards of offense. Lock Haven's 277 points scored were the second-most ever for a single-season. The 2015 offense ranks sixth all-time in rushing yards with 1,839 yards and fourth in passing yards with 2,764.
Record-breaking quarterback Caleb Walton continued to shine. Walton was nothing short of sensational during the 2015 season and threw for 2,541 yards, marking his second straight season over the 2,000-yard mark. Walton finished the season with 23 passing TDs, a single-season school record.
To cap the 2015 highlights, three players earned All-Region honors including Tony Ballon (LB, Third Team Defense), Luke Erdman (C, Third Team Offense) and Del’Vaughn Dennis (TE, Third Team Offense). Luke Erdman, Tony Ballon and Daniel Strawbrige (DB) all earned a spot on the 2015 PSAC East First Team and Malyk Harris (RB) and Del’Vaughn Dennis both grabbed spots on the Second Team.
Nickell, a 2011 Urbana graduate, had returned to Urbana in March 2015 as the associate head coach, run-game coordinator and offensive line coach, but quickly found himself here at The Haven alongside Taynor.
Nickell spent the 2014 season as a graduate assistant coach at Division I Kent State working with the offensive line and the tight ends. At Kent State he led individual meetings with the offensive line and ran the scout defense and special teams. While at Kent State, the offensive line allowed just 18 sacks in 442 pass attempts.
Following his graduation from Urbana in 2011, Nickell spent three seasons at his alma mater working as the offensive line coach and the strength and conditioning coach. He helped lead 12 players to All-Conference honors in three seasons.
Nickell was a standout player at Urbana, earning his bachelor of science in education in 2011.
*Updated, August 2019
