Hardy Nickerson is coming back to the Bay Area.
The former star linebacker at Cal will join Chip Kelly's staff as the linebackers coach, according to Fox Sports' Alex Marvez.
Nickerson's reported hiring comes five days after he interviewed for a job with the 49ers, a source told CSNBayArea.com.
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The 50-year-old spent the last two seasons as the linebackers coach on Lovie Smith's staff in Tampa Bay, but was not retained when the Buccaneers fired Smith and installed Dirk Koetter as their new head coach.
Nickerson became a five-time Pro Bowl performer in the NFL after being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 1987 draft out of Cal. He was selected to all of his Pro Bowls from 1993 to ‘99 while with the Buccaneers.
He spent 2007 on Lovie Smith’s staff with the Chicago Bears before moving with Smith to the Buccaneers in 2013. Nickerson was the head football coach at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High for three seasons between those two NFL coaching stints.