William James Nicks was an American college football player and coach. He coached at historically black colleges in the Southern United States from 1930 to 1965. Nicks served as the head football coach at Morris Brown College in Georgia and at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. He was the NAIA Football Coach of the Year in 1963 and his teams were declared the black college football national champions six times. Nicks was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1999.

The Prairie View A&M Panthers football team is the college football team representing the Prairie View A&M University. The Panthers play in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).