When college football coaches talk about what it takes to be better from one season to the next, it’s usually because of player improvement, the new talent coming in or an influx of cash and NIL money from supporters.
Rarely does that coach point the finger at himself.
But this past year, when I was around second-year Texas Southern coach Cris Dishman, I saw that he never blamed the players he inherited for why he wasn’t as successful as he hoped. He looked within when assessing his biggest takeaway after his first year in the SWAC and where the improvement has to start.
“Each week is very competitive,” the former Oilers star defensive back said of the SWAC. “There is no light game, so each week was very competitive. That was my take on it.”
And without any prompting, Dishman continued, “I will be much better as a coach this year than I was last year.”
It’s easy to believe that he will be.
Clarence McKinney handed over to Dishman a solid foundation when his contract wasn’t renewed after five building seasons. Dishman and his staff came in, assessed the program, kept the players willing to buy in, added some key pieces and then elevated some things.
“We don’t have a change of staff. We have a couple of guys coming in new, but our main coaches are our main coaches. They know we are going to be hard on them but we are going to fair to them. All the quarterbacks know (Zerick Rollins), all the running back know Kimble (Anders), all the O-line knowns Steve (Smith). So they know he is not going to change.”
Cris Dishman, Texas Southern University Head coach
McKinney’s downfall in 2023 was injuries, and Dishman had his share of critical injuries in his first season, but managed to eke out a 5-6 overall and 4-4 SWAC record. It wasn’t the winning season the Tigers’ faithful have been clamoring for since Johnnie Coles’ 9-3 and 8-1 record in 2010 was wiped from the books, but it was a start.
In Dishman’s first season as a head coach, TSU snapped its nine-game losing streak to rival Prairie View, came within three points of Lamar and ended the season on a two-game winning streak.
Those are things to build on. But Dishman wasn’t willing to take any pats on the back then and certainly isn’t now as the Tigers get set to open the season next week against Prairie View in the annual Labor Day Classic.
“In order to achieve greatness, you always have to improve,” Dishman said. “We can’t be satisfied going 5-6 last year, we can’t be satisfied going 4-4 in the SWAC.
“I was expected to win the SWAC … We were expected to win the SWAC. We were expected to go to Atlanta and win. Same expectations that we have this year. There is no pressure, just expectations. So I put a lot of expectations on my guys to understand that we are here for a reason. We are here to win the SWAC. We’re here to go 11-0. We go out to Cal-Berkley the second game and we are expected to win that game.
“Each game on our schedule, we are expected to win.”
Dishman spent this offseason putting in the work, adding the players and the depth to support his ambitions. The Tigers are improved in the trenches on both sides of the line and quarterback KJ Cooper is back after suffering a season-ending injury in last year’s season opener.
“Our leader went down last year, and we weren’t able to bounce back from that,” Dishman said. “This year, I think we have great depth not only on our offensive line, but also on our defensive line. Our secondary has more depth, guys who can come in and play.”
Dishman, who prefers talking about the total team instead of individuals, says he has been impressed with his overall team in all phases of this fall camp.
“I can’t say a certain group. I can say all the guys are working, which is good,” he said. “You have some upset when they aren’t getting some plays here, plays there, but it’s a process and they’ve got to fall in love with the process. A lot of guys love the game, but they don’t love the process of the game.
“The most important thing we have to get to them as coaches is that the process of the game is more important than the game itself.”
Getting his guys to understand that segways perfectly into his stated four goals every year, which are to beat Prairie View, go undefeated, win the SWAC and win the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.
It starts Aug. 30 when the Tigers open the season against the Panthers at Shell Energy Stadium. Ultimately, it’s about winning, but this game will be a little different for Dishman, who won’t be smiling across the sideline at his friend and former Oilers secondary mate, Bubba McDowell, whose contract wasn’t renewed after last season.
This season, he will face Prairie View’s young and boisterous new coach, Tremaine Jackson. Jackson is fresh off a Division II Championship appearance at the helm of Valdosta State. Jackson also played at TSU and coached there briefly.
Of course, it’s not the matchup he was looking forward to. But it’s the one he has.
“Well, I don’t know nothing about Mr. Jackson because Mr. Jackson and I are not going to be on the field,” Dishman said. “They’ve got some good players over there that we’ve got to be able to control. And in order for us to win this game, we’ve got to play better than what we did last year.
“Mr. Jackson is coming in from wherever he is coming in from. I’m going to miss my boy Bubba. I’m going to miss competing against Coach McDowell. But we’ve got to see what Mr. Jackson has for Prairie View.”
