Former Kansas State football coach Jim Dickey dies at 83
Jim Dickey, the first football coach to guide Kansas State to a bowl game, died on Saturday.
He was 83.
Dickey coached the Wildcats for eight years, going 25-53-2 before giving way to interim coach Lee Moon three games into the 1985 season. Though his overall record wasn’t impressive, he put together one of the most memorable seasons in K-State history.
In 1982, Dickey led the Wildcats to a 6-5-1 record and a trip to the Independence Bowl. It was their first winning season since 1970 and their first postseason appearance in school history.
K-State defeated Kentucky, South Dakota, Wichita State, Kansas, Iowa State and Colorado that season. It also tied Missouri. Dickey was named Big Eight Coach of the Year.
That success led to a date with Wisconsin in Shreveport, La., at the Independence Bowl. The Badgers won 14-3.
K-State has now played in 21 bowl games, with current coach Bill Snyder leading K-State to 19, but Dickey’s 1982 team was the first to receive a bowl invitation.
Dickey was unable to build off the success he found that season and never finished better than 4-7 in his other eight years. The other highlight of his tenure was a winning record against rival Kansas. Dickey led the Wildcats to a 4-3 record against the Jayhawks, including a win by forfeit in 1980.
He was well known for redshirting players, a tactic he borrowed from Nebraska. But he took that practice in a new direction by redshirting upperclassmen. That unusual strategy helped K-State’s roster become as strong as possible in 1982, and it paid off with a winning season.
Dickey also coached as an assistant at Houston, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, North Carolina and Florida. He finished his coaching career as a defensive assistant at Florida in 1989.
The Manhattan Mercury reported that Dickey was living at a rest home in Houston at the time of his death.
Kellis Robinett: @kellisrobinett
This story was originally published February 19, 2018 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Former Kansas State football coach Jim Dickey dies at 83."