Get to Know Addison Nichols: The Eagle Scout, Second Degree Blackbelt, and Kroger Associate
Tennessee has landed the commitment of Greater Atlanta Christian offensive tackle Addison Nichols, who is one of the most renowned offense linemen in the country. On the hoof at 6'5", 320lbs, Nichols is as physically impressive as any prospect in the country. Of course, Nichols has the accolades to back this up; he is a MaxPreps All-American, holds offers to play in both the Under Armour and Army All-American Bowl, is a consensus four-star recruit, and plays on one of the nation's premier teams at GAC. But what he does off the field might be even more impressive, and we take a deep dive into several of these impressive feats and how they have contributed to his game and future plans.
Apart from his impressive on-field resume, Nichols boasts an impressive 3.77 GPA in the classroom, a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, the title of Eagle Scout, and is a highly successful part-time employee.
"I just feel like I have been doing it for so long that the time management is kind of ingrained into my brain," Nichols said about how he balances all of these things. "I have learned that when I don't have something to do, I end up doing way worse in school. I have better grades during football season because I feel like I do better when I have a timeframe to do stuff, and I have been doing it for so long; it is just ingrained in me. It is definitely a lot sometimes, especially with the recruiting aspect, but I would rather have it than not because I am blessed to be in this situation."
Addison Nichols The Eagle Scout
Just being able to know that you can push yourself through whatever it may be, whether that be a hardship or a long period of time, with Eagle Scout, it takes so long and so much energy to get. Knowing that I can do that, then I know that if we are down two touchdowns in the third quarter of a football game that I am going to be able to push myself through until the end and do my best. Those two things were really beneficial for me in life and football.
Addison Nichols The Second Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
Tae Kwon Do, the physical aspect has helped me just with my hands and overall flexibility. Since I stopped, my flexibility has gone down, so I need to work on that. The hand part has been unbelievable. My hands are extremely fast, and I don't have to think about a lot of the stuff I do because I have done it so much in Tae Kwon Do, it is kind of just like a reaction, so I don't have to worry about training it as much or worrying about in it and a game and thinking about it. The discipline part of that is proper, and everything and that translates over to football because you have to be disciplined and have good technique and be able to focus when your coach is talking to you, so Tae Kwon Do is extremely beneficial to me in a lot of ways.
Addison Nichols The Kroger Associate
Really good because when you get to a situation like that with the NIL, you need to know if it is a good deal or if you are getting played, and how to manage your money and all of those different aspects that I feel a lot of people kind of overlook. Working at Kroger for three years has helped me manage my money because I don't make a lot of it because I don't work all the time because I have football all the time. But I can make five paychecks last for months, and being able to manage my time with it, I will be able to manage my time with NIL, like being able to manage an autograph signing or a meet and greet around my schedule. Make sure that you don't half-butt it to where you are getting there late, so you know that there is more to it than that. It has been really helpful, and it also opened opportunities to do a deal with them in the future. I have been talking to managers to figure out how I could potentially do a deal with Kroger later on. All around, it has been great.
"It prepared me really well because when you get to college, you are doing football and school year around," Nichols reflected on his impressive off-field body of work. "You are doing football and school in the summer, doing it in the fall, and doing it in the spring. Being able to know how to kind of manage school around other activities is really good. You have to do that in college because you have football half the day and school half the day. I feel like me it has been good because I have other things involved in my day other than just football and school, so being able to take those things out and just focus on football and school will be good because I will know how to manage those. It was really good being able to learn that young instead of learning it when I get there. You hear all of these stories of kids getting there and just flunking out the first semester because they don't know how to balance it all. So it is going to be really good for me since I will be going in the Spring semester. I am not going in the heat of the season, so going in the spring will also help me build my way in. It is all going to help me out in the long run."