Nicholson Finds His Way After Coach Gives Direction : Football: Fountain Valley running back discovers hard work and a positive attitude do pay off.

If there was an easy out, he’d find it. If there was a shortcut, he’d take it. If there was a problem, he’d circumvent it.

In school, at home and on the football field, Fountain Valley running back Jeremy Nicholson made life as easy on himself as possible. He’d quit practices, make excuses, drop classes, run from sticky situations.

“I’ve always taken the easy way out,” said Nicholson, whose soul-searching during an often frustrating off-season convinced him the easy way out was no way out for him. “This time, I decided to take the hard way.”

After the 1992 season, Nicholson realized that nothing in his life was the way he wanted it.

His grades were low, on-going hip problems continued to plague him, there were problems at home, he had little self-esteem.

Nicholson was caught in a raging depression.

That’s when Fountain Valley Coach George Berg called Nicholson aside. Coach and player had a heart-to-heart talk.

“I don’t want to paint too terrible a picture, or put him in a bad light,” Berg said. “Let’s just say, he was on the fringe. He was headed in the wrong direction and he had too many things going for him to go that way. Any kid who doesn’t have a good picture of himself has to see he has potential.”

Insisting it’s part of his job and that much of the changes came from within, Berg downplays his role in Nicholson’s turnaround.

“Coaches all over do the same type of thing. We’re just helping them redirect their energies,” he said. “He did a lot of it on his own. He started to take more control of his life. We worked hard at it, it wasn’t always easy. But it’s not like I had to sit him under a hot light.”

Nicholson changed his circle of friends, concentrated on the classroom, got a job--he currently works 30 hours a week setting up rooms for special activities at the South Coast Community Church--and got spiritual.

“My whole attitude and outlook about football and life has changed,” he said. “Instead of trying to be a punk kid, I’m trying to be more mature. If you work hard and persevere, you can accomplish a lot.”

Which he has. Nicholson has shaken his blues, lifted his grades--from a 2.2 grade-point average to his current 3.8 GPA--and his confidence and home life have improved.

“Things are flowing pretty good right now,” he said.

Nicholson isn’t leading the county in carries, yards, average or scoring. Colleges aren’t fawning over him, but that’s fine.

“I haven’t been a starter all year, but I’m not about being a starter,” said Nicholson, who has 422 yards in 59 carries (7.2 average) and has scored eight touchdowns in five games. “I just want to be out there. If I get some runs, I’ll go home happy.”

As he did after Fountain Valley’s loss to Huntington Beach last week. He was the rare Baron who had something to smile about on the bus ride home.

“Everyone else was all depressed because we lost, but I was happy because I got to play,” Nicholson said. “I used to have all these goals I wanted to reach. Now, I want a CIF ring. I want to help this team win a championship. That’s what I’m playing for this year.”

Nicholson admitted he’s only playing at 70-80% strength. He tries not to dwell on how much better he would be, how much more yardage he would have compiled if he was 100% healthy.

“Berg put it all in perspective for me,” Nicholson said. “I’m not going to be able to do the things everyone expected me to do when I was starting as a sophomore at Pacifica. I’d say, ‘Coach, I can’t run 300 yards and score three touchdowns.’ He’d say, ‘You’re right, but maybe you can run for 200 and score one.’

The same psychology applied to Nicholson’s academic improvement.

“I’d say, ‘Coach, I can’t get into college, I only have a 2.4 GPA,’ ” Nicholson said. “He’d tell me, ‘You’re right, but if you work hard, you can improve your grades.’ ”

Nicholson and Berg spoke about his hip problems with caution.

“Coach doesn’t want me to talk much about it. He’s scared other teams will go after me,” he said.

What he did say is after two surgeries--one after his sophomore year on his left hip and one after his junior year on his right and another one scheduled after the season--he has simply learned to play with and through the pain.

Berg believes Nicholson has a shot at a scholarship if surgery returns him to full health.

“I’ve had some people come through and ask about him,” he said. “He’ll continue to get bigger and stronger and that will only make him more effective.”

For now, Berg is happy to have Nicholson contribute when he can.

“He pushes himself so hard, when he has a chance to help the team, we want to give it to him. But he knows that he’ll probably be sorer than most kids the next day.”

If his football career ends with his final high school game, the new Nicholson can live with it.

“If I hadn’t gone through this change and this hip thing, it may have been more of a blow. But now, I’m too much into the positive.”

Nicholson’s been a team player since he transferred from Pacifica two years ago, but Berg sees him pumping up his teammates more now than in the past.

“He’s always been concerned with the team, he was never arrogant,” Berg said. “But he has taken on more of that role . . . He’s a different person than when he walked into Fountain Valley two years ago.”