Benedict football has a ‘great foundation.’ New coach has even bigger plans
Ron Dickerson Jr. is getting a second chance at being a head coach.
Dickerson is the new football coach at Benedict, a historically Black college in Columbia. He was introduced at a lively Thursday morning news conference filled with the school’s marching band, booster club, alumni and current players.
“We are going to take Benedict College football to a new level,” school president Rosalyn Clark-Artis said. “Coach Dickerson is the ideal person to take Benedict to the next level.”
Dickerson replaces Chennis Berry, who left to take the South Carolina State head coaching job. Berry, who replaced SC State coaching legend Buddy Pough, rebuilt the Tigers program into national relevance during his four years in Columbia.
They had back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles in 2022 and 2023. Benedict also earned back-to-back trips to the NCAA Division II playoffs. It was the first time the program made the postseason in school history, and they were No. 1 seeds in their region both years.
“Benedict College has a big bullseye,” Dickerson said. “Everyone knows who Benedict is now. We’ve got to uphold the standard.. ... Coach Berry laid a great foundation , and that is our plan, to continue to build the success here and build a great program. We are chasing NCAA championships now and not just to be sitting as a No. 1 seed.”
While Dickerson praised Berry for the work he did to help build the program, he also made it clear that it is his opportunity to put the stamp on the program moving forward.
Dickerson shared his “VISION” for the program — Visualize, Internalize, Strategize, Initiate, Overcome, Necessity — among other topics during a 20-minute opening statement.
Dickerson will have to reshape the Benedict coaching staff and roster, as most of Berry’s assistant coaches left to join him at SC State as well as several players. Between 15-20 players entered the transfer portal after Berry’s departure. The first day of the second football signing day is Feb. 7, and the transfer portal will open up again in April.
Dickerson said he is in the process of putting together his staff, saying he already has a offensive line coach and two defensive assistants lined up. He also will talk with any of the Benedict staff members that are left.
As far as players, his first team meeting is set for Thursday and he’ll try and do his to keep right players already on the roster for his first year.
“We will make sure we bring the right young men in,” Dickerson said. “How signing day will be? We will see. I am not stressed with that. I am more worried about recruiting what is on campus right now. I got to see what I have on this team and who wants to stay and who doesn’t.”
This will be Dickerson’s second head coaching job. He was the first Black head coach in Big South Conference history at Gardner-Webb outside Charlotte, where he went 7-15 from 2011-12.
Dickerson has spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator/receivers coach at Division II West Florida. The Argonauts averaged 32 points and 437.2 yards of offense this past season. West Florida qualified for the Division II playoffs and lost in the first round to Delta State.
Dickerson has spent more than 25 years as a college coach with other assistant jobs at Mississippi, Morgan State, Louisiana-Monroe, Jackson State and Missouri State.
As a player, Dickerson played two seasons in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and in NFL Europe as a running back and kick returner.
Dickerson comes from a coaching family. His father, Ron Dickerson Sr., was head coach at Temple, Alabama State and also was the defensive coordinator at Clemson from 1991-92. He also spent time on Colorado’s coaching staff under Bill McCartney and Penn State’s under Joe Paterno and worked in South Carolina’s athletic department.
The younger Dickerson said his father definitely will have a role in some capacity on his staff, but he’s not sure what it will be yet. When Dickerson was at Gardner-Webb, his dad worked as his defensive coordinator.
“Every morning, we talk life spiritually and we talk football,” Dickerson said. “He is going to be a big part .... and I am going to pick his brain as much as I can because he has been very successful in what he has done.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 8:28 AM.
