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Kyle Parmley
Super Regional Volleyball
Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols during a Class 7A North Super Regional match on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, at Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Photo by Kyle Parmley.
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Kyle Parmley
Mountain Brook Volleyball
Mountain Brook coach Vickie Nichols during a Class 7A North Super Regional match between Mountain Brook and Huntsville on Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, at Von Braun Center in Huntsville.
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Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
State Volleyball - Hartselle vs MBHS
The Spartans react as Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols walks over to the bench with the with the Class 6A Championship trophy after defeating Hartselle in the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship held at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
State Volleyball - Hartselle vs MBHS
Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols calls out a play in a class 6A championship match between Hartselle and Mountain Brook during the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship held at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
State Volleyball - Hartselle vs MBHS
Hartselle head coach Tanya Lybarger, left, and Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols receive their championship game balls following the Class 6A Championship title match during the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship held at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
State Volleyball - Hartselle vs MBHS
The Spartans react as Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols walks over to the bench with the with the Class 6A Championship trophy after defeating Hartselle in the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship held at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
State Volleyball - Hartselle vs MBHS
Hartselle head coach Tanya Lybarger receives a hug from Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols following the Class 6A Championship title match during the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship held at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Homewood at Mtn Brook Volleyball
Mountain Brook head coach Vicki Nichols calls out directions from the sideline in a class 6A area match at Spartan Arena between Homewood and Mountain Brook on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
State Volleyball - Hazel Green vs MBHS
Mountain Brook head coach Vickie Nichols calls the play in a class 6A semifinal match between Hazel Green and Mountain Brook during the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship held at the Birmingham Crossplex on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. Mountain Brook defeated Hazel Green to advance to the state finals against Hartselle. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
Mountain Brook coach Vickie Nichols reacts on the sideline during the Class 7A state championship match between Mountain Brook and McGill-Toolen on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019, at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham. The Spartans defeated McGill-Toolen to claim the Class 7A state championship title. Photo by Erin Nelson
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Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
Mountain Brook coach Vickie Nichols calls a play on the sideline during the Class 7A state championship match between Mountain Brook and McGill-Toolen on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019, at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham. The Spartans defeated McGill-Toolen to claim the Class 7A state championship title. Photo by Erin Nelson
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Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
Mountain Brook coach Vickie Nichols smiles during a Class 7A state tournament match between Mountain Brook and Auburn on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Photo by Erin Nelson
Vickie Nichols is going out on top.
After leading her Mountain Brook High School volleyball team to back-to-back state championships, Nichols has announced her retirement following a coaching career that has spanned 33 years.
“The last match I ever coached, we won a state championship,” Nichols said on Tuesday afternoon. “I can live with that.”
Nichols informed her team of her decision on Monday, concluding four highly successful seasons at Mountain Brook. During her time there, the Spartans compiled a record of 162-48, including the program’s fourth and fifth state titles in 2019 and 2020.
“It’s pretty unbelievable when I think about it,” Nichols said. “It’s because I’ve got a great staff and great athletes and a lot of hard-working kids.”
A native of Florence, Nichols was a three-sport athlete at Bradshaw High School before going on to play volleyball at Mississippi State. After a stop at Hazlewood High, she began the volleyball program at Northwest Shoals Community College alongside college teammate Tina Seals and remained there for six years before becoming the head coach at Samford.
Nichols also had assistant coaching stops at Hoover and Oak Mountain before coming to Mountain Brook.
“I couldn’t have accomplished what we did without having great assistant coaches and I am very thankful for their hard work and friendship to me,” she said.
Although she is unsure of what she will do in the next chapter of her life, Nichols is at peace with the decision to step away.
“I don’t know what’s next and we’re okay with that, because I know that the Lord will show us at the time we need to see it. It’s exciting,” she said.
Nichols said what she will miss most is the relationships and fellow coaching friends she has gained along the way. She also expressed gratitude for Mountain Brook’s willingness to trust her with the program.
“It’s bittersweet,” Mountain Brook athletic director Benny Eaves said. “I’m excited because I know her plans for the future are with her husband and family and children and grandchildren. We appreciate everything she’s done for our program.”
Nichols has nine kids and four grandkids that she plans to spend a great deal of time with in the future. She believes the Mountain Brook program is in good hands moving forward.
Eaves said the plan is for Mountain Brook to have a new coach in place by the time tryouts are conducted later this spring.
