Gary L. Nichols was born in Washington D.C. to Lee H. and Jessie M. Nichols. Gary grew up in the Washington metropolitan area attending grade school at Annunciation in Washington D.C and St. Agnes in Arlington, VA. After grade school he attended Falls Church High School his freshman year, Francis C. Hammond High his sophomore and junior years, and his senior year was spent at T.C. Williams. Gary lettered in varsity football for three years playing on Hammond’s 1969 Northern Virginia Regional championship squad and T.C. William’s 1971 Virginia state champions. In Gary ‘s senior year he was voted to the All Potomac District and All Northern Virginia teams and was Honorable Mention All State. In addition he also received varsity letters in wrestling and track.

After graduating from high school in 1972 Gary attended Temple University in Philadelphia on a football scholarship and transferred at the end of his freshman year to the University of Richmond. At UR he played linebacker and middle guard for the Spiders from 1973 through 1977. He graduated from the University of Richmond with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Economics.

Upon graduating from college Gary entered into the computer systems and networking industries. In the last 22 years he has held a number of sales and sales management positions. Currently he is employed by Nortel Networks as a Director of Sales for the Enterprise Solutions group.

In 1983 Gary married Alita Ahlansberg from San Jose, CA. They have three incredible sons - identical twins Ryan and Royce and their oldest is Hutch. Needless to say sports at the Nichols house is an on-going topic. The Nichols family currently resides in Dumfries, VA.