Nigel Rios is in his first season on the Virginia Union University football staff. He will serve as the Secondary Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coordinator.
Rios is very familiar with the CIAA landscape as both a coach and a student-athlete. Last season he served as the Secondary Coach and Special Teams Coordinator at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh where he helped guide the Falcons to a 5-2 conference mark which tied for first in the Southern Division.
Under Rios’ leadership the Falcons, behind All-CIAA Honorable Mention punter Jake Ford, led the CIAA in net punting and ranked second in punting average. SAU also ranked 3rd and 4th in the conference, respectively in punt return defense and kickoff return defense and first in interception return yardage (7 for 151 yards).
Prior to his stint with the Falcons, Rios spent a season as an assistant at Howard University in his hometown Washington, DC. He spent the 2016 campaign coordinating practices, meetings, film analysis and game planning while teaching techniques and fundamentals for the Bison. He also assisted the academic advisor with monitoring the academic progress of student-athletes.
From 2010-2014 Rios was a cornerstone on some of the best teams to come out of Elizabeth City State University (NC), where he was recruited by (then Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator) Dr. Alvin Parker and played under current VUU Defensive Coordinator Marcus Hilliard. During a storied career, Rios amassed 183.5 tackles, 8 interceptions and 10 blocked kicks in 41 games for the Vikings. He was named to the All-Rookie team in 2010 and then went on to be named to the All-CIAA Defensive First Team for three consecutive seasons. Over that span the Vikings advanced to two CIAA title games, earned an NCAA Playoff berth and were crowned 2013 Pioneer Bowl Champions with a 28-13 victory over SIAC power Tuskegee University in Columbus, Georgia. His junior season (2012) he led the Vikings in tackles with 82 which ranked 9th in the CIAA.
During his high school days, Rios was a standout performer at H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, DC where he was the team’s leading receiver and returner and was a member of the 2008 DCIAA Turkey Bowl Champions.
A fitness enthusiast, Rios is the owner of a food prep company that helps individuals reach their goals through proper nutrition and dietary support. Some of his clients have included Vernon Davis (Washington Redskins), Ken Crawley (New Orleans Saints), Ronald Darby (Philadelphia Eagles), and Tavon Young (Baltimore Ravens). He has also served as the Defensive Backs instructor for the PrimeXample Skills Academy under Troy Vincent (NFL's Head of Football Operations) and Roman Morris
Rios graduated with a 3.29 GPA and honors from the school of Business and obtained a B.S. in Administration with a concentration in Management from Elizabeth City State in 2014.
He is the proud father of a daughter Kylie and got engaged to high school sweetheart Jada Carter in November of 2017.
