Billy Charles Dicken (born December 28, 1974) is a former

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who is currently the defensive quality coach for the NC State Football team. Dicken played in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) from 2001 to 2006 for the Chicago Rush, Detroit Fury,

New Orleans VooDoo The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in ...

and the Columbus Destroyers. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

from 1994 to 1997.

Early life

Dicken attended Bloomington High School in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census showed the city had a population of 78,680, making it the List of municipalities in Illinois, 13th-most populous ci ...

. Dicken played for the Raiders football, basketball and baseball teams, earning all-state honors as a quarterback his senior season.

College career

Dicken continued his baseball and football careers at

in 1993. Dicken took a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

season in 1993. He was a backup quarterback to Rick Trefzger in 1994, but still managed to tie Trefzger for the Purdue passing touchdowns lead with 3. In the 1994 Old Oaken Bucket Game, Dicken suffered an injury that kept him out the entire 1995 season. In 1996, Dicken returned to the quarterback position, once again splitting time with Trefzger, and this time John Reeves as well. The Boilermakers finished 3-8 in what became Jim Colletto's 6th and final season at Purdue. In 1997, with Trefzger and Reeves gone with graduation, Dicken was poised to become Purdue's full-time starting quarterback for the first time in his career. With new head coach Joe Tiller, Purdue changed its offensive game plan to a pass-heavy "basketball on grass", a move Dicken liked. Dicken thrived his senior season, leading the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in pass attempts, completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns on his way to being named a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches.

Statistics

Source:

Professional career

Pre-draft

Despite a successful senior season at Purdue, Dicken's small height compared to other prospects made him unappealing to

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

teams for the upcoming

1998 NFL draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

Early professional career

Dicken was signed by the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

in 1998, but he was released before training camp in June. Dicken then joined the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

, where he spent the season as the 3rd string quarterback, never appearing in a game. While in Nashville, then assistant coach Frank Haege noticed Dicken during a pregame warm-up. When Haege was named the head coach for

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999, when the Quad Cities was ...

, he signed Dicken to be his quarterback.

Hamilton Tiger-cats

Dicken's play in the af2 helped him earn a roster spot with the Tiger-cats in 2000. Dicken was the backup to Danny McManus, and was thrust into action when McManus left a game with an injury.

Chicago Rush

Dicken's play in the af2 also helped him earn a roster spot with the Chicago Rush in 2001.

Coaching career

On January 17, 2014, Dicken was hired as the wide receivers coach for the Illinois State Redbirds football team. As of 2021 Dicken works as a Sales Development Representative for ServiceTrade based out of

Apex, North Carolina Apex () is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. At its southern border, Apex encompasses the community of Friendship. In 1994, the downtown area was designated a historic district, and the Apex train depot, built in 1867, is de ...

References

External links

Illinois State profile

Illinois Wesleyan profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dicken, Billy 1974 births Living people American football quarterbacks Chicago Rush players Columbus Destroyers players Detroit Fury players Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds football coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Illinois State Redbirds football coaches Illinois Wesleyan Titans football coaches Nashville Kats players New Orleans VooDoo players Purdue Boilermakers football players Quad City Steamwheelers players Sportspeople from Bloomington, Illinois Players of American football from McLean County, Illinois Alabama Steeldogs coaches Players of Canadian football from Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois