PITT FOOTBALL 4/11: PROFILE - DICKERSON
April 11th, 2008 | by Reed |Every year at this time during Spring Camp I look at the PITT roster, and at the reports coming out of camp, and try to point to one player - or one segment of the team - that will surprise PITT fans in the upcoming season. It’s fun playing Nostradamus even on this small scale, and to check back when the season is underway and after it’s over, to gauge how well my outlook came true.
This time last season I considering picking Scott McKillop and his move up to the starting the Middle Linebacker position as my choice of intriguing scenarios for the year. After all, here was a kid who sat behind a very good player in H. B. Blades for years, who hadn’t had much playing time and really didn’t have the ‘measurables’ for great success at MLB. I’d like to say that was the case and McKillop was the kid I concentrated on - but it wasn’t. Instead I went with Dave Wannstedt’s shift of Dorin Dickerson over to OLB to try to get his athleticism on the field to bolster our lack of depth at linebacker. We saw how that turned out - rather “blah” all in all. DD was OK there; he did what was asked of him and gave PITT some playing time where it was needed.
But, and this is a big “but”, he didn’t have that break out year that everyone has been predicting for him since he committed to PITT out of local West Allegheny high school in 2005. I wasn’t overly surprised by how it played out, and after the season ended I sat back and thought about what had transpired with DD and why.
What I came up with intrigues me and makes me wonder exactly what the key is to any young man’s success in college ball, and what defines a fan’s connection with that player….
Dickerson came to PITT with a pedigree and resume that were superb. He was a 5* recruit and arguably the best player PITT had landed in many years. He scored like crazy in HS - as a senior he rushed for 1,429 yards on 182 attempts, caught 22 passes for 423 yards, and led the WPIAL in scoring with 36 (36!!) touchdowns. His choosing our school over powerhouse offers such as PSU, Michigan, Ohio State, and LSU was a real feather in DW’s cap. He was so damned good!
So what happened? Well, real life as it turns out.
Dickerson showed up at the 2006 summer training camp injured and couldn’t practice at full capacity. He was slotted at WR and was looking at competition that was older and more experienced and perhaps, just as talented. He fell behind in camp and never could break into the starting lineup once the season got underway. Then as the season progressed the PITT staff - DW in particular - was faced with a tough decision of whether to redshirt him for 2006 and allow him to get up to 100% for the future or to try to get him playing time right away as our offense needed all the help it could get. DW made a controversial choice to allow Dorin and his father to influence that decision - they very much wanted DD to get onto the field in any way possible, and Dickerson was chomping at the bit to help out his teammates - so he played.
And, at first blush it seemed like a great decision, Dickerson ran for a 14 yard TD the first time he touched the ball. Then, again, reality set in. DD didn’t do much for the rest of the season, and indeed wasn’t used much due to his position on the depth chart. He ended 2006 with 5 carries for 25 yards and one TD. Was that a wasted year in his football life?
On the face of it, one could say that it was. But, upon reflection, I don’t think so, especially if it playing right away was something that he cared enough about to lobby the Head Coach to make happen. He knew he wasn’t going to be a starter or even a second string back up, but he didn’t want to be on the sidelines watching while his teammates were out there. He accepted the poor results of that decision, and his limited playing time, gracefully and without complaint in 2006 just as he has his move to over to defense last season.
Gorman of the Tribune Review had a telling quote on this in his article the other day …
“Where Wannstedt has said that he wishes Dickerson had taken a redshirt to learn how to play linebacker, Dickerson expressed no dissatisfaction with switching to defense last season even though he made only 15 tackles. “I’m not going to regret playing linebacker,” Dickerson said,“because I wanted to try it out, and (Wannstedt) agreed with it and I agreed with him. It was fun. I do miss it a little bit, but things happen in mysterious ways.
I had that mind-set whenever I was a freshman,” Dickerson said. “I knew what my abilities were, knew what I could do. I had to let it pass because everyone goes through adversity. I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do.”
Not a bad attitude to have if you ask me.
Now, at the start of his junior year Dickerson is being asked to make the switch back to offense. Another player might throw up his hands in frustration and wonder if he’d ever find a place to shine. Other players with the same level of great success that Dickerson had in high school have done a lot more than that. They have complained publicly, alienated teammates and switched schools in search of a better deal. Not Dickerson though. He’s met every challenge with maturity and professionalism, worked hard to be the best he can be at whatever position he’s found himself in and been, from all accounts, a great teammate to his peers.
As I look back at 2006 I can’t help wondering if, during the course of conversations Dickerson and his Father have to have had about burning his redshirt, the subject of his possible NFL career came up. It must have. Some fans have screamed and cried that Dickerson has set back his chance to play in the Pros because of these switches and his not redshirting. That may well be. But what might also be is that he has found a home at his new position and plays well enough to make people forget about his first two years. Early reports from camp are that he’s starting to really shine as a tight end. He has the skills, and now is getting the opportunity. I wouldn’t bet against him doing just what we’ve all been wanting for him - to succeed at this level of competition also.
I pull for PITT to do well every year, because I’m a PITT football fan. I care about the University and the kids who put so much effort into playing for us. I wish each of them good achievements in all they do.
But this year I’ll root just a little harder for Dorin Dickerson to play well because I admire how he’s handled himself in a tough situation and so I feel he deserves every measure of success that comes his way.
2 Responses to “PITT FOOTBALL 4/11: PROFILE - DICKERSON”
By The Prowler on Apr 12, 2008 | Reply
Reed,
Thanks for writing this post and giving us perspective on athletes. All too often we hear about athletes who are primadonnas who only care about themselves and their own stats. I don’t think anyone would begrudge someone wanting to seize their chance to play in the NFL; but it shouldn’t be to the detriment of their team. Based on what you have written, Dickerson has actually sacrificed his best shot at playing in the NFL by doing what he needs to do to contribute to the ‘team’.
This is the same thing we saw with Ronald Ramon this year for basketball (not that Ramon was going to have a shot at the NBA though). He sacrificed his senior season in order to step in and play point guard, a position he had never played, because that is what the team needed. The result of his sacrifice was that many criticized him for his lack of scoring. What they overlook, however, is the fact that he had a great assist to turnover ration and that his scoring was down because he couldn’t spot up and shoot off the pass when he was the one running the offense.
Who knows how all of this will turn out for Dickerson. Sometimes people can switch positions and flourish. Sometimes big time recruits struggle to ever fit in to a system. No matter what he does the next two seasons in terms of production, I am certain that his selfless sacrifices (I realize that much of this was thrust on him, but he could have thrown a fit or threatened to transfer instead of accepting it gracefully) will speak volumes to his team mates, especially younger guys. Hopefully we can get more guys with this kind of attitude. When you can get a team full of players that are playing for the team and not themselves, their chances of success increase dramatically.