Billy Nicholas No Longer Lindenwood Women Head Coach
Billy Nicholas No Longer Lindenwood Women Head Coach
Longtime Lindenwood University women’s Head Coach Billy Nicholas is no longer the Lions’ coach.
Jason Coomer, LIndenwood's Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, responded to a request for comment on Friday, confirming the move but declining to comment further.
Trevor Locke, who has been an assistant with Lindenwood for some years, is now Interim Head Coach.
Nicholas had been Lindenwood’s Head Coach since the beginning of the 2014-2015 season. During his tenure there Nicholas led his team to four D1 Elite titles (with another likely championship denied the program in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic). He also led Lindenwood to eight major college 7s wins, with the old CRC accounting for two of those, USA Rugby’s 7s championships three, as well as two NCR May Madness 7s and one R7CC title in 2022.
From 2014 to this fall under Nicholas, Lindenwood has gone 66-10 in 15s games against collegiate opposition. They have not lost a 15s game to a collegiate opponent since April 7, 2018 when Life University beat them 21-15, a streak of 32 games.
Against women’s teams (clubs, all-star teams, and the Columbia National Team), Lindenwood is 32-7-1.
COVID halted a championship run in 2020, but more importantly the pandemic hit Nicholas hard personally, as he was hospitalized and many feared for his life. He patrolled the sidelines during the championships in the spring of 2022 with an oxygen concentrator to aid his breathing.
Nicholas did reply to Goff Rugby Report and said this:
"I’m extremely appreciative and grateful for the opportunity I had at the program it was a part of my family for the past 8 years. I can’t thank enough all the players, staff, and administration for getting behind our program and supporting us over the years. I’m excited for my next chapter and wish the coaching staff and current playing group all the best."
