Houston Nutt welcomed a former pupil to his first Ole Miss staff when he announced the addition of Ron Dickerson, Jr., on Dec. 4, 2007 as wide receivers coach. Dickeron's tenure in Oxford has seen him tutor a trio of record-setting Rebels in Shay Hodge, Dexter McCluster and Mike Wallace. Hodge and McCluster earned first team All-SEC honors in 2009, while Wallace was a second team choice in 2008. All three players followed their time in the Red and Blue with NFL careers, with McCluster getting drafted in the 2010 second round by Kansas City and Wallace going in the 2009 third round to Pittsburgh. Hodge signed with Cincinnati. In 2009, Hodge became the first player in Ole Miss history to top 1,000 yards receiving (1,135) and led the SEC in both yards and catches (70), while ranking third in the conference with eight TD receptions. He finished as the Ole Miss all-time leader in receiving yards. A 2009 first team All-American all-purpose player, McCluster became the first SEC player ever with 1,000 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving in the same season. He was the offensive MVP in both of the Rebels' Cotton Bowl victories in 2009 and 2010 and ended his career No. 2 on the all-time Ole Miss all-purpose yardage list. In his first season with the Rebels in 2008, Dickerson mentored a Rebel receiving corps that hauled in a total of 16 TD passes. Hodge led that group with eight TD receptions, which was also tied for first in the SEC. Wallace turned in all seven of his TD catches in the last five games of the season. Hodge, Wallace and McCluster were honored as All-SEC performers by various outlets. The owner of every Ole Miss kickoff return record, Wallace led the SEC and ranked third in the nation in yards per catch (20.1), third in the SEC in all-purpose yards (133.6 ypg) and sixth in receiving yards (784). Hodge was eighth in the league in receiving yards (725) and receptions (44), while McCluster finished seventh in the conference in all-purpose yards (98.5 ypg). Before coming to Ole Miss, Dickerson coached the previous three seasons at Louisiana-Monroe, where he served as defensive backs and assistant head coach in 2007. In his final year in Monroe, the Warhawks became bowl eligible for the first time since they made the jump to Division I-A in 1994 and ended the season winning five of their last six games, including a 21-14 victory at Alabama. Before moving to the defensive side, Dickerson had spent two seasons tutoring the ULM running backs, including 2006 All-Sun Belt first-teamer Calvin Dawson. Dawson became the Warhawks first 1,000-yard rusher since Bryant Jacobs in 2002. Prior to joining the ULM staff, Dickerson worked three seasons at Missouri State, where he coached running backs and special teams, in addition to serving as the team's NFL liaison. Dickerson guided Bears tailback Cody Pratt to back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, including the second-best rushing season in MSU history with 1,223 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in 2003. Dickerson held positions with professional teams prior to his time at MSU. He worked in 2001 as an offensive and special teams intern with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and in 2000 as running backs and special teams coach with the XFL Las Vegas Outlaws. Collegiately, Dickerson was running-game coordinator from 1997-2000 at Alabama State, spent one season as wide receivers coach at Temple and served as director of football operations in both assignments. Dickerson played professionally from 1993-96 for the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, and the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of Arkansas and played four years as a running back and wide receiver (1989-92) with Nutt as his position coach with the Razorbacks. His tenure featured a pair of bowl appearances. Dickerson's father, Ron Dickerson, Sr., was a long-time college and professional football coach, including a total of seven years as the head coach at Alabama State and Temple. Dickerson, Jr., is the founder and president of R.U.N.T. - Recognizing Undeveloped Natural Talents, a youth organization designed to improve opportunities for young people in and out of athletics. Dickerson and his wife, Kendreah, have two daughters, Kristen and Ashten, and a son, Keagan. |
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