Nick Figueroa

Classroom

Figueroa graduated in May of 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in real estate development. He graduated magna cum laude with a 3.76 GPA.

He is a two-time David X Marks Scholar Athlete and has been named a Stevens Scholar and a member of the Pac-12 Conference Honor Roll.

Figueroa is currently pursuing a Mater’s of Science in Finance with an anticipated graduate date of December 2022. He has completed four internships working as a commercial investment analyst and a banking analyst. Figueroa aspires to earn his MBA from either Harvard or UPenn and then spend time in traditional investment banking before working his way to a buy out private equity firm.

Character

Figueroa demonstrates his leadership in a variety of ways. He served with USC’s Society 53. Society 53 is the Student Alumni Society’s leadership program at USC. Members of Society 53 comprise the governing body in charge of Student Alumni Society programming and events. They also represent the USC Alumni Association as official student ambassadors, connecting USC students with alumni. Figueroa coordinated professional workshops and events to connect students to alumni. He served on their external affairs committee doing outreach campaigns through the COVID-19 pandemic as well as hosting virtual networking dinners between students and alumni.

“I thought it would be cool to get involved as a football player in an on-campus organization,” he said. “And it would be a great way to give people another perspective of football players. But also, not having football as the only thing that defines me. I can introduce that later on in a conversation and people will be like ‘Wow that’s cool! I didn’t think of football players doing this kind of stuff.’”

Figueroa was also appointed the captain for his offseason training group during the spring of 2021. The group that he led won an award for their performance in the classroom and professional development.

“Nick has been the definition of what it means to be a Trojan. He sets an extremely high standard in every aspect of his life - whether that is as a student, an athlete, a teammate or a person. We have seen him become a graduate of our university working currently on his master’s, a tremendous leader on our team, and one of the more dominant defensive lineman in college football today.” – USC Head Football Coach Clay Helton

“What’s done in the dark will always shine in the light,” said Figueroa. “You can’t fake it. You go on the field and if you haven’t been taking care of business or taking care of your body it shows. If you haven’t been studying, it shows up ins the grades. I did that internship this past summer, and I did really well and I think it’s because football gave me a strong work ethic and a mindset. Work hard, diligently and focused, and good things will happen.”

Community

Figueroa is very involved with philanthropic endeavors and charity work.

He volunteered at Safe Place for Youth, an organization in Venice, Calif. focusing on serving homeless youth. Here, he helped host a Christmas party and distributed gifts from a toy drive.

He also volunteers with Second Spoon. Second Spoon is a non-profit organization that was created by USC football player and Figueroa’s teammate, Mo Hasan. Hasan owns a food truck which he named the Hunger Relief Mobile which is used to distribute food to the homeless. In 2018, Hasan formed Second Spoon with this concept: schools cook, store and freeze excess food and student-athlete volunteers take this food around to the homeless and hungry in Hasan’s FedEx truck, turned food truck. The food is high quality as student-athletes are served healthy, nutritious meals.

He has helped remodel an apartment at the Jenesse Center, a domestic violence prevention and intervention center in Los Angeles. Figueroa and some USC football teammates renovated a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment for two-straight weekends.

Competition

Figueroa will shine again as a starting defensive lineman as a senior in 2021.

He lettered in both 2019 and 2020, and has played in every game while at USC. He transferred to USC from a junior college in the spring of 2019.

After beginning his Trojan career as a key contributor on the defensive line in 2019, Figueroa had a breakout season in 2020 and led the team in sacks, recording 3.5 for 23 yards in USC’s shortened six-game season. In total, he has tallied 30 tackles (15 solo and 15 assists). Of those 30 tackles, 4.5 have been sacks for 27 yards and 9 were tackles for loss for 36 yards. He’s recorded one pass deflection and one fumble recovery.
In 2020, he earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention, Phil Steele All-Pac-12 third team and Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 honorable mention.

“Being dependable and consistent is huge,” said USC defensive line coach Vic So’oto. “So I know what I’m going to get out of No. 50 when he goes out there, and that’s whatever he’s got. And he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be, and he’s going to go as hard as he can.”

Figueroa appreciates that positive reinforcement.

“Our coaching staff is comprised of men that I really respect. I’m really close with Coach Vic (So’oto), and we have a great relationship. He’s been a mentor to me. To hear those types of comments, I really appreciate it, and it makes me feel like what I’m doing is correct. It’s very assuring.”