Former West Valley player being looked at for NFL

STAR ATHLETE: Matt Nichols has had a successful college football career, that may translate into a professional football career in the 2010 NFL draft. Nichols is rank 22 in the nation for the quarterback position on www.NFLdraftscout.com, which is CBS' official website for the NFL draft.

West Valley alum Matt Nichols was a very successful quarterback in high school and has duplicated his success at Eastern Washington University.

Nichols graduated in 2005 from West Valley after what many would consider a phenomenal football career. He was an All-Northern Section quarterback after guiding the Eagles to a Division I title win with an 11-1 season. He was the Division I Player of the Year after passing for 1,666 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was the top player on the All-Redding Record Searchlight list of 50 players and was their Offensive Player of the Year.

He was the MVP of the Northern Athletic League and led West Valley to a NAL title for the second straight year. Nichols was still the highest rated quarterback in the Northern Section even though he was injured early in the season.

Due to his successful high school career, he was able to go to a top school and continue his success. His talent has the National Football League scouting him.

"The guys (sport agents) just come in and watch film. I have some sports agents contact me about possibly representing me after the season," said Nichols of the NFL. "They don't really tell you too much, but I'm hoping to get invited to an All-Star game and the Combine. Nothing really means anything until draft day and the day after."

Nichols first started playing football in second grade at the insistence of his mother. According to Nichols, she pushed him for the first few seasons to play football until he started to enjoy it because he thought he would go on to play college baseball. According to Nichols, now he has made a career out of playing football and has received scholarships for college because of his gift.

"My first year I played receiver a little bit and was quarterback. Then my second year I was a quarterback and have been playing (the position) for 12 years," said Nichols.

His father coached him in both football and baseball until high school.

He's always been the advice giver and my number one supporter," said Nichols of his father.

Another major influence in Nichols' life has been his current coach, Beau Baldwin. According to Nichols, Baldwin was his quarterback coach when he first started at Eastern Washington University. Baldwin left for a year and then came back as the current head coach.

"He's had an influence over my whole career here and really taught me what being a quarterback is all about. I've had a really good five years here, four years playing," said Nichols.

He also mentioned that he still keeps in touch with two of his former high school coaches, Greg Grandell (head coach) and Jim Vert (offensive coordinator).

"They are like second dads to me. I talk to those guys pretty much every week and they're always calling and checking in," said Nichols. "We played against Cal and (Grandell and Vert) came down and brought some of their players with them and watched the game."

Nichols has complied a book's worth of numbers during his five years at EWU.

In total offense Nichols has 9,376 yards, for passing yards he has amassed 8,786 yards. Nichols owns the university's record with 1,150 career pass attempts, his efficiency rating is 136.0, and he has thrown 63 touchdowns and 40 interceptions. His current streak is 207 passes without an interception.

He also is a two-time recipient of the Big Sky Conference's Offensive Player of the Year award; the first time in 2007 and then again on Nov. 24 of this year.