Nichols was born and grew up in Miami, Florida and was a childhood friend of future South Florida teammate and current Cincinnati Bengalsrunning backQuinton Flowers. He attended Miami Central High School in West Little River, Florida where he played football and ran track. In football, Nichols recorded 105 tackles, 12 interceptions and two forced fumbles in four years as the Rockets won state championships in his freshman, junior, and senior seasons. Regarded as a three-star recruit by most recruiting services, Nichols committed to play college football at the University of South Florida, where his former high school coach Telly Lockette was on the coaching staff, over offers from several higher profile programs, including LSU, Tennessee, Miami, and Clemson.
College career
Nichols played four seasons for the South Florida Bulls and started at defensive back his final three years. As a freshman, Nichols came off the bench as a reserve defensive back in seven games and started one game. He became a starter going into his sophomore season and was named first team All-American Athletic Conference after recording 62 tackles, 8.5 for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery along with a team leading four interceptions, one of which he returned for USF's only defensive touchdown of the season, and five passes broken up. As a junior, he led the Bulls with four interceptions and seven pass breakups and made 49 tackles and was named second team All-AAC. As a senior, Nichols recorded 56 tackles, 12 pass breakups and 3 interceptions and was again named first team All-AAC. Nichols finished his collegiate career with 175 tackles, 11 interceptions, 24 passes defensed, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one sack and 14.5 tackles for loss in 50 games played.
Nichols signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2018. Nichols made his NFL debut on September 16, 2018 against the Los Angeles Rams, playing on special teams. He was waived on October 8, 2018 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 18, 2018, but was waived two days later and re-signed back to the practice squad on October 23. He was promoted to the active roster on December 18, 2018. He was waived by the Cardinals on December 28, 2018. In total, Nichols appeared in two games, exclusively on special teams, with one tackle during his rookie season. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Cardinals on December 31, 2018. Nichols was waived by the Cardinals as part of final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.
Nichols was selected by the Houston Roughnecks in the 39th Round of the 2020 XFL Draft. Nichols recorded 24 tackles, with a sack, six passes defended and a league leading three interceptions before the 2020 XFL season was cancelled following growing concerns about the COVID-19 virus. He was placed on the reserve/other league list on March 23, after signing with the Saints. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.
New Orleans Saints
Nichols was signed by the New Orleans Saints on March 24, 2020.
