George Dickson

George Dickson (born September 27, 1923) is a retired American gridiron football player and coach was the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League for the first two games of the 1976 season.

For the Australian cricketer, see George Dickson (cricketer).

George Dickson
Born: (1923-09-27) September 27, 1923
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Career information
Position(s)Quarterback
CollegeNotre Dame
High schoolSouth Pasadena High School
Career history
As coach
1952NYU (assistant)
1953Mount Carmel HS (IL) (assistant)
1954Notre Dame (backfield)
1955Dayton (backfield)
1956Marquette (backfield)
1957USC (backfield)
1958–1960Pacific (CA) (assistant)
1961Oakland Raiders (DB)
1962–1963Oklahoma (assistant)
1964–1965Denver Broncos (assistant)
1966Atlanta Falcons (OB)
1967–1968New Orleans Saints (OB)
1969Washington Redskins (OB)
1971Houston Oilers (OB)
1972–1975San Diego Chargers (OB/ST)
1976Hamilton Tiger-Cats (head coach)
1977San Bernardino Valley College (assistant)

Early life

Dickson was born in Boston and grew up in South Pasadena, California. He was a star quarterback at South Pasadena High School and in 1940 joined the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team.

Military

After his freshman season, Dickson enlisted as a paratrooper. He saw extensive action during the war, including combat in Normandy on D-Day. Following the fighting in Normandy, Sgt. Dickson and his unit moved to the Ardennes. There, they were battered by constant bombing by German artillery during the Battle of the Bulge.

He returned to Notre Dame in 1946, but dropped out in order to work full-time. He returned to Notre Dame again in 1948 and spent his final two seasons of eligibility as a reserve quarterback behind Frank Tripucka and Bob Williams.[1]

Sgt. George Dickson received the Admiral Thomas J. Hamilton Award from the All-American Football Foundation in 2006.

Coaching career

Dickson began his coaching career in 1952 as an assistant at NYU. The football program was disbanded after his first season there and after spending the 1953 season as an assistant at Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, Dickson rejoined his NYU boss Hugh Devore at Dayton. Dickson's time at Dayton was short-lived as one month later he left Dayton to become the backfield coach at his alma mater, Notre Dame.[1] After only one season, Dickson left Notre Dame and returned to Dayton.[2]

After stints at Marquette, USC, Pacific, and Tulane, Dickson joined the pro ranks as an assistant with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League.[3] He returned to college football in 1962 as an assistant at Oklahoma.[4]

In 1976, Dickson received his first head coaching position when he was hired by the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats. After the Tiger-Cats lost all four of their preseason games and their first two regular season games under Dickson, General Manager Bob Shaw fired him and succeeded him as head coach.[5]

After his firing, Dickson served as an assistant coach at San Bernardino Valley College.[6]

Head coaching record
TeamYearRegular SeasonPost Season
WonLostTiesWin %FinishWonLostResult
HAM1976 020.0004th in East Division00Fired
Total 020.00000

References
  1. "Grid Staff Fill at Notre Dame as Dickson Hired". The Spokesman-Review. February 14, 1954. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
  2. "Irish's Dickson Goes to Dayton". Los Angeles Times. August 24, 1955.
  3. "Oakland Raiders Fire Eddie Erdelatz". The Hartford Courant. September 19, 1961.
  4. AP (August 26, 1962). "Sports In Brief". Tri-City Herald. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
  5. Bob Hughes (January 20, 1977). "CFL coaching survivors honor Bob Shaw". The Leader-Post. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
  6. "Names in the News". Los Angeles Times. July 22, 1977.
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