University Star

Long before Dennis Franchione became the football coach at Texas State, Jim Dickey, the Kansas State head coach, hired him in 1978 as an assistant for the Wildcats.

Flash-forward to 2011, and Darrel Dickey, son of Jim Dickey and former Wildcats quarterback, is the co-offensive coordinator and running back coach for the Bobcats.

Dickey believes this kind of fellowship is important in football because it means a coaching staff is on the same page and comes from a similar background.

“The fraternity of football and coaching is something that is very important,” he said. “It’s that network of people you know and stick with that gets you places.”

Dickey played quarterback for Kansas State and in 1982 led the team to its first bowl game.
“That was great to win it as a player, but it was along time ago,” Dickey said. “Now I am just focusing on trying to go out there and get one as a coach with Texas State and help the program to keep rising.”

Franchione was the receivers’ coach while Dickey played quarterback at Kansas State and the two have worked well together since.

 “We got to work together quite frequently,” Dickey said. “He is a great coach and is great at letting the players know exactly what it takes to win a game.”

Dickey was the head coach at North Texas from 1998 to 2006 and guided the Mean Green to four consecutive Sun Belt Conference championships. He came to Texas State after spending the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at New Mexico.

Jeremy Dickey, redshirt freshman safety, is nephew of Darrell Dickey and transferred from Tarleton State last year when Franchione was hired.

“When Coach Fran asked me if I wanted to play I had to decide in one day,” Jeremy  said.  “During the break, I drove up to Tarleton, loaded up my stuff and drove to Texas State just in time. It all happened pretty quick.”

Darrell Dickey said coming to Texas State under these circumstances is special. 

“It’s definitely the best of both worlds in coming to Texas State to coach under someone I know really well and respect, while getting to coach my nephew at the same time,” he said.

Jeremy said his uncle is a good coach and never changes his personality for practices or games.
“He doesn’t try and act different on the field,” Jeremy Dickey said.  “He uses his personality to get his point across. He is easy to get along with, a good guy. [He’s] never negative and a positive motivator.”

Jeremy Dickey, who played quarterback in high school, said his uncle was a significant catalyst in leading him to become a collegiate athlete.

“My dad was a coach, too, so he was probably the first person to get me into the game, but my uncle was a major reason I wanted to play at the next level,” Jeremy Dickey said. “When he coached at North Texas we always went to his bowl games and seeing all of that made me what to play college football even more.”

 Despite the deep family roots in coaching, Jeremy Dickey said he does not want to coach after his playing career ends.

“I’ve been around it my entire life and I want to do something with my major, business marketing,” he said. “I think owning a business would be pretty cool.”

Dickey drew comparisons between quarterback Diondre Borel, whom he coached for two years at North Texas, and Texas State’s quarterback Shaun Rutherford.

“They are very similar kind of players,” he said. “I coached Borel his freshman and sophomore years, and he went on to two more very successful years. Rutherford seems to have the same kind of tools and has a stronger style of play.”