Bubba McDowell can’t help but find the humor in it now, but as a rookie safety with the Oilers in 1989 his initial impression of the second-year cornerback Cris Dishman wasn’t too flattering.
“I thought he was cocky,” recalls McDowell, who’s now the Prairie View head football coach. “He was Deion (Sanders) all over because he would get in your face and he would say stuff. Many guys can do that and back it up and that’s what he did.”
For those who say that a first impression is a lasting impression, they couldn’t have been more wrong in this instance. McDowell not only gained respect for his brash secondary mate, but a friendship and bond developed into a brotherhood that has endured a few decades.
Now the two have a new layer to their relationship, and that is SWAC rivals after the man McDowell still calls by his nicknames Rag or DishRag was hired earlier this month as Texas Southern’s new head coach. It’s a different dynamic to their relationship and one they both welcome.
“I’m just excited for him,” said McDowell, who made a surprise appearance at Dishman’s introductory press conference. “This is something that he has wanted and I know he is going to do great because he is passionate about what he does.”
After 13 seasons in the NFL and spending the last 19 years as a defensive assistant in NFL Europe, the NFL, major college football, and most recently the XFL, that passion has led Dishman to the doorsteps of what is sure to be his most challenging role yet.
Dishman has taken over a football program that has long underachieved and hasn’t had an NCAA-recognized winning season since 2000. But the 58-year-old first-time head coach is thrilled about the opportunity to assume control of the program and put his stamp on the Tigers.
“I’m feeling real excited,” Dishman said to the Defender shortly after being introduced as the Tigers’ 18th head coach. “I’m ready to get started. I’m ready to recruit. My coaches have just landed here, so it’s an exciting moment for TSU football, this is exciting for me. This is my first head coaching job. I just want to do the best job possible that I know how to do.”
Falling in love with coaching
As passionate as Dishman is about this opportunity and coaching in general, the former All-Pro and Pro Bowl cornerback never even considered a career in coaching until well after his NFL career was over in 2000. It was his friend and former teammate, Alonzo Highsmith, who first gave the nudge in 2005 while Dishman was working the rodeo circuit.
Highsmith had a couple of players he asked Dishman to work with. Dishman quickly saw the difference he was able to make in the players. So did Highsmith.
“So I started training and then I got the coaching bug,” Dishman said. “Then my first coaching job was in NFL Europe in 2005. I went over there coaching. From that point, I couldn’t put it down.”
The love Dishman found in coaching was clearly mutual. The Louisville, Ky. native has coached defensive backs in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals. Dishman has spent time coaching in the Canadien Football League (Montreal Alouettes), college football (Baylor and McNeese State) and in recent years has spent time in the XFL and USFL where he held defensive coordinator titles the last two years with the New Jersey Generals and Las Vegas Vipers.
TSU found an experienced leader
His vast experience in college football and professional football should be a draw for high school recruits and student-athletes in the NCAA transfer portal looking for a better opportunity. That fact wasn’t lost on TSU athletic director Kevin Granger, who delivered Dishman to the Board of Regents for approval earlier this month after a messy hiring process left him scrambling for a candidate to energize the program and excite a growingly apathetic alumni base.
“He had 19 years of coaching experience and he played at the highest level,” Granger said to the Defender. “Many of the student-athletes now want somebody who can kind of guide them and show them how to get to the next level. Whether they make it or not, they want somebody who can kind of guide them because they’ve been there before.
“Now we have a coach in place who played at the highest level. So he can give them that experience and knowledge of what it takes to reach the ultimate goal.”
Cris Dishman
TSU Head Football Coach
Hometown: Louisville
Alma Mater: Purdue ‘88
NFL Draft: Houston Oilers picked him in the fifth round in 1988
Playing experience: Oilers (1988-1996), Washington Redskins (1997-1998), Kansas City Chiefs (1999) and Minnesota Vikings (2000)
Coaching experience: Berlin Thunder (2000), Menlo College (2005-2007), San Diego Chargers (2008-2012), Baylor (2015-2016), Arizona Cardinals (2017), Montreal Alouettes (2018), New York Guardians (2020), IMG Academy (2021), New Jersey Generals (2022), Las Vegas Vipers (2022-2024).
He said it: “The transition, the first couple of years is hard, but now it’s a cakewalk. I know what to do. I’ve been watching a lot of great coaches.”
Dishman, who practiced substantial patience through the TSU hiring process, believes he has inherited a team from Clarence McKinney that has enough pieces in place to win now, with a couple of strategically placed pieces. He also plans to be a stickler for grades, graduation and citizenship with his demand of 24 hours of community service for all of his players.
“This is what I’m looking forward to is our players getting out into the community,” Dishman said during his introductory press conference last week. “I’m a giver and I don’t want our players and staff to be takers. If we are asking something from somebody, we have to give what we want.”
What he will find that his players and alumni want most is a winner. McKinney seemed to have the Tigers on the brink of success throughout the last two seasons.
The hope is with Dishman’s coaching and leadership that TSU football will finally make that leap to being a consistent winner.
“We have enough players to win now,” Dishman said. “So we are just getting other pieces in to help, but the meat and potatoes of the team is here. So we are not going to go wholesale and take out 30 and bring in 30 more.
“We have enough talent in that room to win. I have enough belief in the guys in that room to win, I have enough belief in our coaches to get them in the right areas to make us win.”
