Boulder – Brandon Nicolas isn’t Irish. But he was.
With any luck, the 6-foot-3, 270-pound sophomore transfer from Notre Dame will help Colorado’s defensive line this fall and get to play for the same coach for a while.
Nicolas joined the Buffs last September after the coaching change at Notre Dame. Three months after arriving in Boulder, he went through another change at CU.
“I’m starting to realize more and more that’s just college football and stuff like that happens a lot,” Nicolas said. “I’ve just been unlucky enough for it to happen to me.”
Twice.
Nicolas, from legendary football power Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., was recruited to Notre Dame by Tyrone Willingham. Nicolas did not play as a freshman in 2004 but was told by Willingham and his staff that his chances of playing as a sophomore were promising. But Willingham was fired right after 2004 regular season, and Charlie Weis was hired 12 days later.
Nicolas said he never felt comfortable with Weis’ staff and decided to transfer. He picked Colorado over UCLA in large part because he thought it would be fun to play for Gary Barnett.
Oh, well.
“That was a bit of a surprise. It wasn’t really what I had hoped for,” Nicolas said of Barnett’s firing.
Nicolas is starting to think everything will work out fine. He likes Buffs head coach Dan Hawkins and defensive line coach Romeo Bandison.
Nicolas figures to get an opportunity. Defensive tackle/nose tackle is the thinnest area of the CU defense, with 2005 regulars James Garee and Vaka Manupuna having completed their eligibility. Sophomore George Hypolite (6-2, 265) and senior Marcus Jones (6-4, 295) join Nicolas as the only defensive tackles listed on the spring roster.
After toiling on the scout team last fall and then undergoing shoulder surgery, Nicolas is trying to make an early impression. There’s a bit of rust to knock off. He hasn’t played in a game since 2003, when he was a senior at Mater Dei.
“Timing is what I’m going to have to work on most, the speed of the game,” Nicolas said. “I just have to keep working. I have to get a lot better before the season starts.”
Hawkins said Nicolas is struggling to become consistent.
“He’s doing OK,” Hawkins said after a recent practice. “(Knocking off the rust) is probably part of it, and there’s a new scheme. So he’s back to square one a little bit.”
The talent is there. It just must be coaxed out of hibernation. A two-way lineman in high school, Nicolas was regarded as a blue- chip prospect. The Los Angeles Times named Nicolas to its all-metro first team. He was listed No. 52 on Rivals.com’s Super West 60 picks.
After taking his only official visit to Notre Dame, he committed to the Irish. Nicolas made unofficial visits to CU, Ohio State, UCLA and Cal.
“We asked him about Notre Dame and how it was,” Hypolite said. “We wonder how practices were and how things went, compared to here.”
“There’s a lot of tradition there,” is Nicolas’ standard response. “Tradition is strong at Notre Dame. But there’s a lot of tradition here, too. This is a big- time program. Classes are hard. There’s not that much of a difference, really.”
Nicolas noticed the new CU coaches appear more relaxed than their counterparts in South Bend, Ind.
“The pressure at Notre Dame is continuous,” Nicolas said. “We knew two years ago that if we didn’t win, it wasn’t going to be good.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
