DUDLEY, Mass. (11/10/23) –
Dale Olmsted, the head football coach at Nichols College, has announced that he is stepping down from his position after leading the Bison for the past decade. Olmsted will close out the season, and his Nichols career, on Saturday, Nov. 11 against visiting Husson College.
"We are extremely grateful for the leadership and dedication that Coach
Dale Olmsted has given to the Nichols College football program," said Vice President and Director of Athletics Jack Hayes. "Dale has been a great ambassador for Nichols College and a valuable resource to many of our head coaches. He will forever be a member of the Bison Family."
Olmsted joined Nichols in 2014 after a successful career at Millis High School–a program with a great history that had fallen on hard times. Olmsted reinvigorated the program and was named the
Boston Globe Division 4 Coach of the Year in 2011 after coaching Millis to a 10-1 mark, the TVL Small School Division title, and the state playoffs. The following year, Millis went 8-3 and captured their second-straight TVL Small School Division crown. Following the season, Olmsted was an assistant coach for the South in the 2012 Shriners All-Star Game.
Upon his hiring at Nichols, Olmsted became the eighth head football coach since the College became a four-year institution in 1959. His most successful season was in 2016 when the Bison posted a 6-4 record and won its final four games, all against New England Football Conference (NEFC) foes. The Bison set program records for total yards (4,420) and touchdowns (40) in a season and produced four All-NEFC performers. Thirteen Bison were named to the NEFC Academic All-Conference Team and Matthew McEvilly was named the recipient of the Joe Zabilski Award as the best defensive player in New England at the NCAA Division III level. Olmsted was named Worcester Area Football Association (WAFA) Coach of the Year after the 2016 season and again in 2018.
During his tenure, 36 of his student-athletes earned all-conference honors in the New England Football Conference (NEFC) from 2014-16 and the Commonwealth Coast Conference from 2017-2022. All-conference awards for the 2023 season will be announced soon.
Olmsted's student-athletes garnered academic all-conference accolades each year, including a record-setting 17 players in 2021. He successfully led the Nichols program through the COVID 19 pandemic, navigating the cancellation of the 2020 season and the ensuing recruitment and retention challenges that arose during the lengthy global public health emergency.
"Coaching at Nichols College has been an extraordinary opportunity, and one that I will always cherish," said Olmsted. "I coached outstanding student-athletes, interacted with dedicated alumni and worked with great people within the Division of Athletics and across the Nichols campus. Most importantly, I had the opportunity to coach my son, Hayden, which was the honor of a lifetime."
Nichols will begin a search for its next head football coach immediately.
