Ferocity: Ozzie Nicholas

By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com

Ozzie Nicholas plays with ferocity. A captain and inside linebacker on one of the nation's top-ranked defenses, he leads the Ivy League in tackles and is the only player among the Ivy's Top 20 tacklers to also have multiple sacks this season.

Nicholas plays with passion. His love for the sport and his teammates has driven him to change his lifestyle over the past year, and has pushed him to keep the locker room moving forward together throughout a rocky first half of the 2023 season.

When a linebacker plays like this, you might even say he plays with anger. You would be wrong. Nicholas became the player he is today when he let the anger go.

• • •

Young Austin Nicholas seemed destined to play college football at the highest level early in life (maybe not as early as when his older sister mispronounced his real name, creating the "Ozzie" monikor that is now well-known by every Ivy League offensive coordinator), and it was a path he was excited to pursue.

An all-state linebacker and a three-star recruit by both 247Sports and ESPN from Encinitas, Calif., Nicholas started receiving offers from Pac-12 schools before his junior season began. He received more during the season, as well as offers from a plethora of FBS and FCS schools, including most of the Ivy League programs.

The team captain and League Defensive Player of the Year, Nicholas' options seemed boundless heading into his final game of his junior season. Then came one ACL tear, and another on the same knee prior to his senior season, and suddenly many of those potential paths disappeared. He tried to prove he could still dominate, even with a torn ACL, but his senior season lasted less than one month. He wasn't as effective, wasn't as confident, and eventually just wasn't on the field.

The Ivy League options didn't go away. He had always pushed hard on academics, and even if his confidence wasn't as high at the time, the dream of playing football beyond college was never fully extinguished.

"When I looked at Ivy League schools, I really cared about football, and I saw all these guys coming out of Princeton and going to the NFL," Nicholas said. "Princeton still gave you that opportunity to make it to the NFL while still putting me in the best position possible if football didn't work out. It was the best of both worlds."

It didn't exactly feel the best at the time. In the fall of 2018, he was a highly coveted linebacker recruit by multiple Pac-12 programs. In the fall of 2020, he was recovering from a second major injury, starting his collegiate career in the middle of a pandemic, and not feeling all that great about any of it.

"It was very difficult early on," he said. "There were a lot of hard days and serious talks with my parents about my goals, and what I really wanted. Once I let go of my ego and thoughts about where else I could be, I was able to do much better. Once I let go of a feeling about what could have happened, and I accepted my situation, and worked really hard in the program and embraced it, I was able to play at a much higher level, get more opportunities and be a better teammate."

Statistics more than back his assertion that he is playing at a higher level and getting more opportunities. Nicholas leads the Ivy League and ranks 12th nationally with 10.6 tackles per game. He has had double-digit tackles in six of Princeton's last eight games, including each of the last four. He has had multiple 15-tackle games, and added three quarterback hurries last weekend at Brown.

Head coach Bob Surace loves the player Nicholas has become on the field, but he is just as proud of the presence he carries within the program.

"The step he has taken this fall is the hardest to take, and he has done that and more," Surace said. "His blitzing, pass coverage and speed have all become huge assets in his game. He is also the emotional leader of the team, and his energy snap-to-snap has been tremendous. He is on pace to be a legacy player at a position for Princeton that has a great history."

There was another mental hurdle that Nicholas had to clear to become that player. He may have let go of the anger, but the confidence he played with as a junior in high school wasn't quite there midway through the 2022 season. He overthought decisions and would "spiral" when things went poorly.

"There is one level to be comfortable in the scheme, but another to be confident and truly believe you are the best player on that field," he said. "I had to prove that to myself, and it took me a long time last year. I let it all go around the Cornell and Dartmouth games, and once I started playing free and not overthinking or wondering what it means if I don't play well, I started really flying around."

You can probably guess when that string of double-digit tackle games started. With newfound confidence, Nicholas went all-in on being the best Princeton football player he could be.

"My mentality and lifestyle this year is much different than last year," said Nicholas, who credited conversations with team psychologist Gavin Jones with helping overcome the past hurdles. "I am sleeping much better. My diet has changed. I am always making time for film. I minimize the things that distract me from football. To play at the level I feel like I'm playing at right now, I had to really commit to it."

By committing to the team, the individual has shined brightest.

"This is what I've chosen to put my effort, heart and work into," Nicholas said. "It's not just about myself. Early last season, it was about me. I wanted to play better. This season, I want to win games. I want to lead a team."

The team enters the second half of the season with a 2-3 record, but it is 3-4 plays away from being undefeated as well. A win this weekend over unbeaten Harvard would wipe away a lot of the pain from those games and put Princeton right back where it wants to be, tied atop the Ivy League standings.

Rest assured, Nicholas is doing everything in his power to get the team that victory. That's the way he lives these days. The passion is there. The anger is gone.

The wins, he believes, are coming.

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