Jake Dickert, the new head coach of Washington State University football, recently walked up to a couple of journalists and asked, "Did all y'all play ball?"
Colton Clark from the Spokesman-Review answered, "I played outside linebacker." Jamey Vinnick from the website Coug Fan replied, "I played tight end in third grade." And when Dickert pointed at me, I said, "Fullback," to which he responded, "That's a lost art in today's game."
That's an example of who Jake Dickert is — he takes real interest in a person once he meets them. The same goes for the small communities where he forged a career in college football.
Originally from Oconto, Wisconsin, Dickert comes to Pullman with plenty of experience at plenty of schools — as a coach he has moved around a lot.
He started playing for Wisconsin-Stevens Point as a wide receiver. He was then a graduate assistant before moving to North Dakota State as a safeties coach, then to South Dakota to coach defensive backs and special teams. He next moved to Southeast Missouri State as a defensive backs coach, Augustana as the defensive coordinator, and Minnesota State to be the defensive coordinator and linebackers' coach. He then moved to South Dakota State to coach safeties and special teams, and to Wyoming to be the safeties coach and work his way up to be the defensive coordinator. Finally, he ended up in Pullman as the defensive coordinator under former coach Nick Rolovich, eventually earning the head coaching position after successfully navigating the latter half of the 2021 season after Rolovich's dismissal for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID — including a blowout win in Seattle against the Cougs' UW rivals.
If you didn't notice from the 38-year-old Dickert's résumé, he's a small-town guy and has moved from rural school to rural school — a lot. He says WSU and life in Pullman matches up well to the other schools where he's played and coached.
"At South Dakota State, they had cows on campus," Dickert says. "It's very similar, small town and big college. It's the heartbeat of the area and region. The people are very connected to the program. I think that's sort of the brand of Washington State."
Dickert compares his hometown of Oconto to Pullman. He says it was different agriculture-wise, Oconto being a fishing community north of Green Bay, while rolling hills of wheat dominate the Palouse. He then mentions cows for the second time, saying there are a lot more in Oconto than Pullman.
Although, he says, the people are similar.
"As far as people — good people, tough working people," Dickert says. "People with a lot of grit and blue collar. That's kind of my nature, too."
Lincoln Victor, a WSU wide receiver, says of Dickert, "He's just a man of his word. Although he is a first-year head coach, he is doing a great job of being able to rally the troops. When he says stuff, people listen.
"You don't want to play for a coach who is one person one day and another person the other day. He's real honest with you and will tell you what you need to work on and get better. At the same time, he's going to give you confidence and tell you what you do well."
"If you didn't notice from the 38-year-old Dickert's résumé, he's a small-town guy and has moved from rural school to rural school — a lot."
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There is a noticeable type of "juice" at fall 2022 training camp. So much loud music, hooting, hollering and a whole lot of action.
WSU has a new quarterback in Cameron Ward, who transferred from Incarnate Word. This is a change after last year's quarterback, Jayden de Laura, transferred to Arizona. Ward is coming off an incredible season in which he threw for 4,648 yards and 47 touchdowns. Receiver Victor is proving to be a star in training camp and practices, and he'll be one of Ward's top targets. WSU also has defensive leaders in all-Pac-12 player RJ Stone and defensive end Brennan Jackson. They've gone through multiple coaching changes on the defensive side of the ball, too, as Dickert has developed a staff equipped to bring a lot of energy to the team.
Dickert believes that consistency is the key to success and that players need to develop good habits. He says during the rough parts and ending of practice is when these habits come into play. And that translates to games when the season starts. He wants to make sure that team members trust one another so fully that during the fourth quarter, they should be able to look to either side of themselves and realize those are people they trust. He says this is the main way they'll be able to win football games.
Victor reiterates these comments, explaining the difference from the current training camp to last year. The togetherness of the team is a major theme, Victor says. Position group versus position group wasn't so prevalent in drills — the main focus was the entire team having success. There is more trust involved this year, too.
"How you play without the ball dictates what type of player you are," Victor says. "I think the juice is just from us wanting to be here, and that's been the difference between this year and last year."
Dickert seems to be the perfect man for WSU. He embraces the school, program and community — something the Cougs have been looking for for quite a while. With the 2022 season on the horizon, and a new coach starting a new era in Pullman headlined by a new quarterback and improving defense, there's reason for Coug fans to be optimistic. ♦
Trevor Junt is studying multimedia journalism with a minor in sports communication at WSU's Murrow College.
