In July 2010, Nicola retired from playing for
Lumezzane in order to replace the outgoing head coach
Leonardo Menichini. On 28 June 2011, his contract was renewed. |303x303px During the 2012–13 season, Nicola became the head coach of
Livorno in
Serie B. In January 2014, Livorno sacked Nicola, with the club second-from-bottom in
Serie A. On 21 April 2014, Nicola was re-appointed as manager of Livorno. On 17 November 2014, Nicola became the new manager of
Bari. On 23 June 2016, Nicola was appointed manager of Serie A newcomers
Crotone. Nicola promised to ride a bicycle from Crotone to his home in Turin if they avoided relegation. Crotone finished in 17th place, two points above the relegation zone, and ahead of
Empoli on the final matchday of the season, in what was hailed as a football miracle, as Crotone had collected only nine points in the whole first half of the season. Fulfilling the promise, Nicola rode 1300 km from Crotone to Turin on a bicycle. On 13 November 2018, Nicola was appointed manager of
Udinese. On 28 December 2019, Nicola was appointed manager of
Genoa. On 19 January 2021, following the sacking of
Marco Giampaolo, Nicola was appointed manager of
Torino. In his first game in charge,
Simone Zaza scored two second-half goals to help Torino draw 2–2 with
Benevento, having been two goals down. After guiding Torino to escape relegation narrowly, he left the club at the end of the season. On 15 February 2022, Nicola was appointed as the new head coach of Serie A relegation-battling club
Salernitana until the end of the season. Under Nicola's tenure, Salernitana obtained 18 points in the remaining 15 matches and avoided relegation, another escape hailed as a miracle by the media. Nicola signed a new two-year contract with the club on 3 June 2022. He was later dismissed by the club on 16 January 2023, after a 8–2 loss away at
Atalanta; only to be re-appointed just two days later. However, as results did not improve, Nicola was dismissed once again on 15 February 2023. On 15 January 2024, Nicola was hired as the third head coach of the season for struggling
Serie A team
Empoli. After guiding Empoli to a last-minute escape from relegation, Nicola departed from the club by the end of the season. On 5 July 2024, Nicola was announced as the new head coach of fellow Serie A club
Cagliari on a two-year contract with an option to extend for one further year. After guiding the Sardinian team to safety in the
2024–25 Serie A, Nicola and Cagliari parted ways by the end of the season. On 2 July 2025, Nicola was unveiled as the new head coach of newly-promoted Serie A club
Cremonese, agreeing upon a two-year contract with the
Grigiorossi.{{Cite web |date=2 July 2025 |accessdate=2 July 2025 |title=Davide Nicola nuovo allenatore della Cremonese ==Personal life==