| Teamname: | Nichols Bison football |
| Firstyear: | 1932 |
| Athleticdirector: | Jack Hayes |
| Headcoach: | Vinny Marino |
| Headcoachyear: | 1st |
| Hcwins: | 0 |
| Hclosses: | 0 |
| Stadium: | Vendetti Field |
| Stadcapacity: | 2,000 |
| Stadsurface: | FieldTurf |
| Location: | Dudley, Massachusetts |
| Ncaadivision: | III |
| Conference: | CNE |
| Pastaffiliations: | Independent (1932–1942, 1947–1971) ECFC (1992–1997) |
| Atwins: | 264 |
| Atlosses: | 354 |
| Atties: | 11 |
| Conftitles: | 5 NEFC (1973–1976, 1978) |
| Divtitles: | 1 NEFC Boyd Division (2001) |
| Mascotdisplay: | Bison |
| Websitename: | nicholsathletics.com |
| Websiteurl: | https://nicholsathletics.com/sports/football |
The Nichols Bison football team represents Nichols College in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Bison are members of the Conference of New England (CNE), fielding its team in the CNE since 1972 when it was named the New England Football Conference (NEFC). The Bison play their home games at Vendetti Field in Dudley, Massachusetts.[1] [2]
Their head coach is Vinny Marino, who will take over the position for the 2024 season.[3]
Nichols claims 5 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 2023.
| 1973 | 8–1 | 4–0 | Michael Vendetti | |
| 1974 | 7–1–1 | 6–0–1 | ||
| 1975† | 6–2 | 6–2 | ||
| 1976 | 8–1 | 7–1 | ||
| 1978† | 6–2 | 6–2 |
| 2001 | 6–4 | 5–0 | L 0–12 |
Nichols has participated in one bowl game, and has a record of 0–1.
| 2001 | L 10–63 |
| Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unknown | 1932–1942 | — | — | — | — | — | – | – | – | – | |
| 2 | Hal Chalmers | 1947–1958 | 68 | 25 | 38 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||
| 3 | Harry Gaffney | 1959–1961 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 | – | – | – | – | ||
| 4 | Michael Vendetti | 1962–1985 | 191 | 103 | 83 | 5 | 65 | 43 | 2 | |||
| 5 | Jack Charney | 1986–1992 | 63 | 34 | 28 | 1 | 20 | 20 | 1 | |||
| 6 | Jim Crowley | 1993–1995 | 27 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 0 | |||
| 7 | Jim Foster | 1996–1998 | 29 | 9 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Bill Carven[4] | 1999–2010 | 115 | 51 | 64 | 0 | 34 | 41 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Kevin Loney[5] | 2011–2013 | 29 | 2 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | |||
| 10 | Dale Olmsted[6] | 2014–2023 | 90 | 30 | 60 | 0 | 12 | 44 | 0 | |||
| 11 | Vinny Marino | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| National champions | Conference champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head coach | Association | Division | Conference | Record | Postseason | Final ranking | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | ||||||||
| Nichols Bison | ||||||||||||||
| 1947 | 1947 | Hal Chalmers | NCAA | — | Independent | 2 | 2 | 3 | — | — | ||||
| 1948 | 1948 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1949 | 1949 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1950 | 1950 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1951 | 1951 | 5 | 0 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1952 | 1952 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1953 | 1953 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1954 | 1954 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1955 | 1955 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1956 | 1956 | College Division | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1957 | 1957 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1958 | 1958 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1959 | 1959 | Harry Gaffney | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1960 | 1960 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1961 | 1961 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1962 | 1962 | Michael Vendetti | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1963 | 1963 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1964 | 1964 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1965 | 1965 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1966 | 1966 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1967 | 1967 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1968 | 1968 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1969 | 1969 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1970 | 1970 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1971 | 1971 | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1972 | 1972 | NEFC | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4th | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1973 | 1973 | Division III | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 4 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | |||
| 1974 | 1974 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 6 | 0 | 1 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1975 | 1975 | 6 | 2 | 0 | T–1st | 6 | 2 | 0 | Conference co-champions | — | ||||
| 1976 | 1976 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 1 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1977 | 1977 | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1978 | 1978 | 6 | 2 | 0 | T–1st | 6 | 2 | 0 | Conference co-champions | — | ||||
| 1979 | 1979 | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1980 | 1980 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 8th | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1981 | 1981 | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–4th | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1982 | 1982 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1983 | 1983 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1984 | 1984 | 2 | 7 | 0 | T–7th | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1985 | 1985 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 10th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1986 | 1986 | Jack Charney | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1987 | 1987 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (North) | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1988 | 1988 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3rd (North) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4th (North) | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1990 | 1990 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4th (North) | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1991 | 1991 | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–3rd (North) | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1992 | 1992 | ECFC | 7 | 1 | 1 | T–2nd | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | — | |||
| 1993 | 1993 | Jim Crowley | 1 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1994 | 1994 | Division II | 2 | 7 | 0 | 5th | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1995 | 1995 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1996 | 1996 | Jim Foster | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8th | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1997 | 1997 | Division III | 2 | 7 | 0 | 4th | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1998 | 1998 | NEFC | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5th (Blue) | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1999 | 1999 | Bill Carven | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4th (Blue) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2000 | 2000 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd (Boyd) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1st (Boyd) | 5 | 0 | 0 | Division champions | — | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd (Boyd) | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd (Boyd) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–4th (Boyd) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2005 | 2005 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7th (Boyd) | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd (Boyd) | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd (Boyd) | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8th (Boyd) | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | 2009 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–4th (Boyd) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2010 | 2010 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 7th (Boyd) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | Kevin Loney | 0 | 10 | 0 | 8th (Boyd) | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2012 | 2012 | 1 | 9 | 0 | T–6th (Boyd) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2014 | 2014 | Dale Olmsted | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2015 | 2015 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2016 | 2016 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4th | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2017 | 2017 | CCC Football | 2 | 8 | 0 | 6th | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2018 | 2018 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2019 | 2019 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| No team in 2020 due to COVID-19. | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | Dale Olmsted | NCAA | Division III | CCC Football | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 2022 | 2022 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–6th | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2023 | 2023 | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–5th | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||