He is the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach for the Saint Mary's Huskies of U Sports.

He played for seven seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Nelson played college football for the East Central Oklahoma State Tigers.

More recently, on December 20, 2013, he was named the Ottawa Redblacks' defensive coordinator.

[8] Nelson's father, Roger is on the Edmonton Eskimo's Wall of Honour and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.