Nichols’ change aiding Bears Linebacker places emphasis on achieving team-oriented goals

ORONO – When University of Maine football coach Jack Cosgrove approached Malik Nichols last year about the possibility of moving him from offense to defense, Nichols didn’t take long to think about it.

If it would help the team win, it was OK by Nichols, who appreciates the value of making sacrifices.

His mother made a big one on his behalf 11 years ago. Kim Latimer moved her family out of Queens, in New York City, and relocated upstate to Albany.

And by staying at UMaine to work on his marketing degree, Nichols has been separated from his 4-year-old daughter Amani.

The sacrifices have been worth it for Nichols, who went into the 2000 season pencilled in as a backup wide receiver. He emerged as one of the Black Bears’ defensive mainstays at outside linebacker.

Nichols, who had played defensive back at Albany Academy, ranked 10th on the team last year with 39 tackles and registered one sack – not bad for a guy who had to learn all of UMaine’s defensive schemes and reacquaint himself with a more aggressive, physical style of play on defense.

“We weren’t real fair with him when we did it last year,” Cosgrove admitted. “He kind of got thrown in there and had to learn on the run. It did take some time, but he really has taken to it very well.”

While willing to help the team, Nichols had spent three whole years as a receiver, one as a redshirt, and faced a big change.

“At first I was kind of hesitant, but the coaches had confidence that I could make the switch,” Nichols said. “If that was what I had to do for the team to win, I was willing to do it.”

The 6-foot, 204-pound senior is a key member of the UMaine defense. In four games this season, Nichols is eighth on the team with 13 tackles and has forced a fumble.

His responsibilities include run support, pass coverage and pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

“He’s very much a good physical match there for us,” Cosgrove said. “He’s really grown and has really become a very productive player.”

Nichols, who had dreamed of catching passes and scoring touchdowns for the Bears, knows if he wants to score a TD now, it will be via an interception or a fumble.

“I’m always going to miss my receiver days,” Nichols said, “but once you go to ‘The Black Hole’ (the defensive unit’s nickname) you really can’t go back,” he laughed.

Nichols’ unselfish nature was instrumental in his selection as one of this year’s three UMaine captains.

“He is so much of a team-oriented kind of kid,” Cosgrove said. “He’s been a solid kid on the field, in the classroom, on the campus; a leader in every way.”

Nichols learned the value of sacrifice from his mother who, despite being a single parent at the time, relocated to put him in a more positive atmosphere.

“She definitely didn’t want me to grow up in the city,” Nichols said. “There were a lot of distractions and a lot of stuff going on. I went up there and had the opportunity to go to a real good private school.”

Nichols, whose mother hoped he would one day play basketball for the New York Knicks, discovered football when his stepfather, Arthur Tucker, took him to watch a Pop Warner game.

“I told him that’s what I wanted to do and he signed me up the next day,” Nichols said. “He had a big role as far as me playing football.”

Tucker set up a small weight room in the house and encouraged Nichols to set and work toward goals. That included placing a small sign reading, “Syracuse,” up on the wall, above a mirror.

He wound up at UMaine and when Nichols receives his business degree in May, he plans to find a job, relocate to the southern New Jersey/Philadelphia area, and rejoin his mom and daughter.

“When I see her [his mother], it makes me realize she put out a lot for me to be where I’m at,” Nichols said. “When I go out, I’m playing for my school, my teammates and my family.”

Nichols looks forward to spending time with his daughter, who’ll spend the school year with him. He knows the sacrifices made by him and his family have been worth it.

“Being one of the only people from my family to go to college [is] a God’s blessing,” Nichols said, “and to walk across that stage in May is going to be even better, to see all my family there.”