BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Chuck Dickinson announced his resignation as Keystone Heights High School head varsity football coach after 24 seasons.
In a letter he sent to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor, Dickinson wrote that his decision came after much thought and prayer, adding, “It has been my honor to lead this program over the last couple of decades. I want to thank all of my former players and their parents for letting me be a part of your child’s life.
“I know the future will be bright for the next head football coach to lead the Indians to new heights.”
During a follow-up phone interview, Dickinson said, “I thought about it the last few years. No one specific reason. I just thought it was time.”
Dickinson said he actually asked former Head Coach Wesley Dicks following the 2021 season how he’d know when it was time to give it up. Dicks replied, “You’ll know.”
“He was right,” Dickinson said.
Dickinson will remain in his role as athletic director and continue his track and field coaching duties this year. He expects he’ll continue to help out here and there in coaching, especially with boys weightlifting.
He said stepping down as football coach will give him more time to devote to his duties as AD. Dickinson pointed out how the school is in the midst of having a new track installed and will host track and field meets in the future. He also said he’ll be able to devote more time to helping the other sports programs — time he may not necessarily have had as head football coach.
“I’ll still be busy,” Dickinson said.
The 1979 KHHS graduate said he never envisioned being his alma mater’s head coach for 24 years after being hired in 1999.
“I was glad I was able to do it that long,” Dickinson said.
Dickinson compiled a 118-122 record, with 10 winning seasons and four .500 seasons. In his sixth season, the Indians posted a 6-3 record for their first winning season in seven years. The following year saw the team win seven games for the first time since 1997, while the 2006 team went 9-2.
From 2004 through 2007, Keystone had a record of 30-11.
Dickinson had a 1-7 playoff record, with the Indians winning the program’s first-ever postseason game as part of a 10-2 season in 2021. That season capped a four-year stretch in which Keystone went 28-13.
For him, coaching was about more than wins and losses. Dickinson said football teaches young people life lessons, such as how to bounce back from failure.
The sport also created relationships that Dickinson still enjoys today with former players.
“For me, it’s not so much about the Xs and Os,” Dickinson said. “It’s the other things.”
Dickinson, who played football and baseball as a student-athlete at KHHS and attended Gardner-Webb University on a football scholarship, expressed his gratitude to many as part of his resignation letter. Two of those people were former Principal David Owens, who gave him his first opportunity to teach at KHHS in 1985, and Dicks, who gave him the opportunity to coach football as a junior varsity assistant in 1983.
After two years coaching on JV, Dickinson moved up as a varsity assistant, serving in that role for seven years.
Dickinson said Dicks was a great mentor.
“A very organized man. A very Godly man. He did things right,” Dickinson said. “Those nine years really gave me the knowledge to see how a program was run.”
Dickinson left the school to take a position with Georgia Pacific, where he worked as a human resource manager and shipping superintendent. In a 1999 Telegraph-Times-Monitor interview, Dickinson said he felt the position with Georgia Pacific was one he couldn’t pass up, but added that he looked forward to his return to KHHS and coaching.
“I just missed it,” he said.
Dickinson was one of more than 20 who applied for the head-coaching position when Walt Darty resigned after the 1998 season. He thanked former Principal Keith Harper for giving him the opportunity to be the head coach and expressed his appreciation to all of the principals since then for their unwavering support: Mike Wingate, Susan Sailor, Angela Ward, Aaron McWilliams and current Principal Laurie Burke.
As part of his resignation letter, Dickinson also thanked Jim and Mary Taylor for being instrumental in starting the Quarterback Club and corporate sponsorships as well as the “Super Chiefs” corporate sponsors: Helen Hersey Realty, Roberts Insurance, Johnny’s BBQ, Trevor Waters Realty, Starling Family Dentistry, Dr. Steve Chapman, Riviere Tire, Keystone Auto Parts (CarQuest) and Taylor, Arrubula, Hardwick, P.A.
“I would also like to thank all of my assistant coaches over the last 24 years,” Dickinson wrote. “To name a few: Wayne Geiger, Wesley Dicks, Bob Wright, Walt Darty, Alan Mattox, Gene Burleson, Stefan Brokas, Robert Mooring, Jimmy Thomas, Mike Hartley, Keith Walker, Lantz Lowery, Matt Dickinson, Andrew Stanley, Isaac Morford, Jack Taylor, Bill Allard, Chris Wester, George Richards, Brian Cox, John Chappell, Chris Roach, Mike Brown, Brad Harvey, Jay Schofield, Andy McDonald, Richard Marshall, Steve Reynolds, Jakob Alvarez, John Mimbs, David Long, Dan Callahan and Kenny Mudge.”
In closing, Dickinson wrote, “Lastly, I want to thank my Lord, Jesus Christ, for giving me the opportunity to lead this program. I want to thank my wife, Lynn, and my four children — Matthew, Mark, Elizabeth and Michael — for the sacrifices they had to make over the last 24 years to let me do something that I loved.”
