Texas Southern head coach Cris Dishman is pushing the Tigers to be more disciplined during his second spring practices with the team. Credit: Jamail Mathews

It was the second day of spring football practice, and second-year Texas Southern football coach Cris Dishman could be heard from the stands at Durley Stadium expressing his frustration with his players who didn’t follow the specific dress code of wearing black socks.

It might seem like a small thing on Day 2 of spring ball. But for Dishman, it’s about discipline, a major mantra during his second spring practice with the Tigers.

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“Guys who are going to be in the right place at the right time, guys who are going to listen to the coach. We can teach you everything else,” Dishman said to the Defender. “We want guys who don’t want to do their own thing. If we say black socks, they have black socks on. If we say buckle your helmets, their helmets are buckled.

“I’m looking for disciplined guys, guys with high football IQs, guys who are going to do what the coaches say.”

It’s the second go-around for the Tigers with Dishman and the more lenient Dish is gone.

“If every player on defense and every player on offense know exactly what their job is and don’t have to look around to figure out what he has to do. That’s how I would be pleased.”

Cris Dishman, Texas Southern University coach

Don’t get it wrong, Dishman is still about instilling values, promoting education and making his players know he cares about their total selves. But he is all about making sure they are on point in his second year of spring ball.

“Our players know how we coach, they know we are hardass, we are going to be on them,” said Dishman, whose team went 5-6 overall, 4-4 in the SWAC and eight points away from finishing with the program’s first winning record in decades. “They also know we love them and that we are going to be with them and we want them to be great men first and foremost.

“The difference is they understand the way we coach.”

Players have heard and adhered to the expectations and messages. Defensive tackle Syncere Massey played for the Tigers last season but he was still at Abilene Christian last spring. He heard what Dishman was like last spring and it’s nothing like the Dishman he is experiencing now.

Defensive tackle Syncere Massey. Credit: TSU Athletic Department

“Last year, I heard they were a little more lenient because it was a new staff,” Massey said. “But now I can say, Coach Dishman is not lenient anymore. If you are getting into trouble, you are off the team. He is not wanting to give you more chances. This is a team and you have to sacrifice and he is more on it.

“He is not soft. He’s like, `We already went through this after that first year together. Y’all know how I am so if you don’t want to be here, we are going to weed the ones out who don’t want to be here.’”

Defensive tackle Demarcus Thompson has the benefit of going through a second spring practice with Dishman and his staff so it hasn’t been quite the shock to his system that it might be for others.

“I would say it’s more comfortable for me with the coaches because I’m already familiar with the scheme and tempo,” Thompson said. “I would say for other guys coming in, it’s always going to be a little bit tough, but I feel like once they get here and go through spring, go through the summer and go through the little fall camp we will all get it together.”

Defensive tackle Demarcus Thompson. Credit: TSU Athletic Department

The Tigers have 20 newcomers on the spring roster, comprised of transfer portal players and graduate transfers. The Tigers also lost a few players to the portal like tight end Jyrin Johnson, who landed at Bowling Green, defensive end Keelan Cox, who is now playing for Sam Houston State, and defensive lineman Stephon Wright, who found a spot with UConn.

But right now, most eyes are on the quarterback position, where last year’s season-opening starter, KJ Cooper, is back after missing all but the season opener due to injury. Jordon Davis, a product of Fort Bend Marshall, played in five games last season as a redshirt freshman. Cooper and Davis are competing this spring after Jace Wilson, who started much of last season, graduated and is presumed to be looking to spend his last year of eligibility elsewhere.

“It’s hard to win games without a quarterback,” Dishman said.

On this particular day at practice, both quarterbacks had a great day with Cooper and Davis both completing long passes for multiple touchdowns. But if one is ahead of the other, Dishman isn’t likely to say until the Aug. 30th Labor Day Classic against rival Prairie View.

“It’s still early, so I’m not going to say who is starting or not starting. We don’t have starters,” said Dishman, whose team plays its annual spring game at Durley Stadium on April 12 at 1 p.m. “Everybody is trying to get better.”

For the players, it’s just exciting to see two quarterbacks out there competing.

“I feel like we are building a lot, we’ve just got our quarterback back so feel like we can pick it up on offense because last year we kind of slacked, and the defense kind of picked it up,” Thompson said. “But overall, I feel like we’ve got a lot of new guys who can come in and help us out.”

Dishman believes so, too. But he knows the transfer portal has been a game-changer in college football and with the portal set to open again right after spring ball is over, his team could be better or worse going into the summer.

“It’s so much movement and on April 17th, it’s another pull, so we could possibly gain some more guys after that,” he said. “It’s a never-ending thing in college football now. That’s the sad part about it now, there is no continuity.”

However it plays out, Dishman is ready for it.

“You have to be flexible, me as a coach has to be flexible and understand the way football is these days,” Dishman said. “I’m just trying to get the best players in to help us win. And if we have to wait until the summer, we wait until the summer.”

I've been with The Defender since August 2019. I'm a long-time sportswriter who has covered everything from college sports to the Texans and Rockets during my 16 years of living in the Houston market....