Bloomington (Ill.) High School graduate and former Purdue quarterback Billy Dicken is in his fourth season as an assistant coach at Illinois State and begins his second season as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Redbirds. Dicken spent the previous two seasons at ISU working with the Redbird wide receivers.
Working alongside Dicken, Anthony Warrum had a breakout season in 2015, as the Redbirds advanced to the FCS playoff quarterfinals for the second year in a row. Warrum was named a Third-Team All-America selection by the Associated Press and STATS and was a Missouri Valley Football Conference First-Team pick at wide receiver. Warrum set an Illinois State single-season record and led the MVFC with 15 receiving touchdowns and ranked second in the league with 1,290 yards on 58 receptions. His stats also ranked him No. 2 in receiving touchdowns (15) and yards per reception (22.2), No. 4 in receiving yards (1,290) and No. 8 in receiving yards per game (99.2) among all receivers in FCS football.
The combination of Dicken and coordinator Kurt Beathard helped the Redbirds become one of the most efficient and explosive passing teams in the FCS during the team’s historic run in 2014.
ISU ranked No. 2 in the country in passing yards per completion (15.51) and No. 4 in team passing efficiency with a mark of 155.58. Senior wideouts Cameron Meredith and Lechein Neblett were a big part of that success, as the duo became the first teammates in school history to both haul in over 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
Meredith, a converted quarterback, led the team with 66 receptions for 1,061 yards with a team-leading nine touchdowns in 2014. He later went on to sign a rookie free-agent contract with the Chicago Bears. Neblett earned All-MVFC Second-Team honors with 55 catches and 1,039 yards and eight scores. Each averaged over 16 yards per catch and made the Redbird passing game extremely dangerous in its run to the FCS title game.
Prior to starting at Illinois State, Dicken spent four seasons across town as a full-time assistant coach at Illinois Wesleyan working under head coach Norm Eash, but finished his 12th year as a Titan assistant overall. As the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2013, Dicken helped the Titans advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs for the third time in five seasons and a No. 14 national ranking.
Before returning to the Twin Cities, he was the wide receivers coach at Division II Eastern New Mexico in 2009, when the Greyhounds were the national leader with 448 passing yards per game.
Dicken and Spack have a long history together, as Dicken was a quarterback for Purdue during Spack’s tenure as defensive coordinator with the Boilermakers. As a senior in 1997, Dicken thrived under the tutelage of then first-year head coach Joe Tiller and his spread offensive attack. Dicken led the Big Ten Conference in pass attempts (407), completions (224), passing yards (3,136) and passing touchdowns (21) on his way to being named a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches.
He was also named the “Outstanding Offensive Player” in the Alamo Bowl, throwing for three touchdowns and 325 yards.
After his career at Purdue, Dicken went on to play for several Arena Football League teams including the Columbus Destroyers, New Orleans VooDoo, Detroit Fury, Chicago Rush and Quad City Steamwheelers as well as the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League.
A 2008 graduate of Illinois State, Dicken earned a master’s degree from Eastern New Mexico in Sports Administration in 2012.
He and his wife, Jessica, reside in Bloomington, Ill., with their daughter, Ashlyn.
