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The University of Mississippi Athletics
INSIDER: From Pupil to Peer
4/2/2008 | Football
By Ben Garrett
OleMissSports.com Insider
While most collegiate athletes use their lessons learned to catapult themselves onto various career paths outside of sports, others follow a natural progression from player to coach. Many attempt to catch on with different universities, while some chosen few are given a chance under the person they once competed for.
“When I played for Coach (Houston) Nutt, he knew I was going to be the hardest worker,” said Ole Miss assistant football coach Ron Dickerson, who now coaches wide receivers under his former mentor. “He knew I was going to give it 110 percent on and off the field. Although we’ve both gotten a little older, he knows that he’s still going to get the same thing. He’s always had faith in me.”
That faith was one of many factors that led to the hiring of Dickerson at
Dickerson said that need to make an impression still burns inside when he coaches.
“It’s the same as when I was a player, I want to impress him,” Dickerson said. “I do that by getting my guys prepared for practice, so we don’t have a lot of mistakes. I want coach Nutt to see how hard they work. Hopefully he sees a little bit of me in those guys.”
Dickerson’s work ethic left a lasting imprint on Nutt, who said the two share a great admiration. While the relationship may have changed, the comfort level between them made the transition easier.
“I’ve always admired Ron,” said Nutt. “I was always impressed with how hard he worked and his attitude. You know what he’s about. What’s different is I’m not coaching him anymore. We’re coaching together. Instead of the player-coach relationship, it’s a coach-coach relationship. It’s always easier when you know somebody.”
However, sometimes the shift from student to teacher is much different than first anticipated and requires some getting used to. Naming former Rebel goalkeeper Melinda Scruggs to his staff in 2005, Ole Miss head soccer coach Steve Holeman explained how that transition can be tricky for a former player.
"Initially, it’s probably a tougher transition for the player than the coach,” he said. “Melinda played at Ole Miss for four years and stayed on as a fifth-year senior as a graduate assistant. In that role, she did extremely well. We knew if there were an opening, we wanted her back.
“When she came on staff, she still had that player mentality were I was the coach and she was the player. She had to go through the transition of now being an assistant. But over the years, the transition has progressed,and she’s accepted that role of coach and assistant, rather than coach and player.”
Now in her third season, Scruggs serves as the team's keepers coach in addition to helping with on-the-field coaching, assisting in recruiting and handling many of the team's administrative responsibilities.
Although she has taken on a new role for the Red and Blue, she said the experiences she gained in competition from 1998-2001 helped her become the coach she is today.
“I think the biggest advantage coming in was I knew Coach Holeman’s style of play and his style of coaching,” said Scruggs. “Now as a coach, those things have carried over from being a former player. I try to have the same open-door policy Steve has always had for his players. They know they can look to me as a person to come to if they ever need advice. Sometimes it’s just easier to talk to someone who has been through those same experiences and knows what the coaches expect from you.”
A four-year letterwinner for the Ole Miss baseball team from 2000-03, Matt Mossberg played three seasons under current head coach Mike Bianco. Now in his first year as an assistant, he said the demands are equally as difficult as they were in his playing days.
“Coach Bianco is an amazing person,” he said. “While he may be extremely intense, he is also extremely hard working. On top of the intensity and the drive, he has an extreme knowledge of the game. It was great being a player under him. Having learned a great deal as a player and continuing that as an assistant coach now, it’s neat to see how he goes about his business.
“I’d be lying to say it’s easy to be on this staff. He expects a lot out of you; maybe even more out of us than the players. That’s why he’s been successful. It is truly a testament to where the program is today.”
But while there may be various changes in rapport between a coach and his former player, Dickerson said the relationship is one to be cherished.
“I’ve just expanded my family,” he said. “When I played for Coach Nutt, he would bring me over to the house, and we’d play basketball. We do the same here. He’s had the privilege of seeing me become a true man and a father. It’s a special bond that not many people get to have.”
