Cris Dishman is “all in” at Texas Southern. Indeed, he’s aware of the university’s unnecessarily messy coaching search after not renewing Clarence McKinney’s contract following a 3-8 campaign. But Dishman believes everything happens for a reason.

“We all know I wasn’t the No. 1 or the No. 2 choice. I probably wasn’t the third choice, but I was God’s choice. I’m happy I was the No. 1 choice in God’s eyes,” Dishman said. “When I got the call that I got the job, my wife knew exactly what that meant. She didn’t even hesitate before saying, ‘Let’s get to work.’”

With Jennifer Dishman all in, Coach Dishman got to work. His first order of business was to meet the team to ensure they were committed to being all in. While Texas Southern is Dishman’s first career head coaching job, experience is not an issue for someone with a 13-year career in the NFL, including two Pro Bowl selections and 19 years as an assistant coach at all levels from high school and college, to the NFL and XFL.

Before Dishman entered the meeting room, he recalled what he learned from the venerable defensive coordinator and mentor Phil Bennett when they served on staff at Baylor. Bennett would go around the room towards the end of a meeting with the defense and have every player and coach stand, give their number or staff position, and state they were “all in.”

“I told our players they didn’t have to stand up and say they were all in. But I told them that if they did stand up and say they were all in, then we’re all in,” Dishman said. “I started and said, ‘Hi, I’m Chris Dishman, head coach of Texas Southern, and I’m all in.’ It’ll give you chills to say that you’re all in for your teammates, not for yourself, but for your teammates. And once you say you’re all in, I hold a person to their word.”

Dishman knows the recent history of Texas Southern. McKinney inherited a program in disarray in 2019 and rebuilt the roster while reshaping the culture. Oddly, McKinney may have been a victim of his success, with donors clamoring for a change despite several injuries at key positions. 

The Tigers entered 2023 with expectations of competing for a spot in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta. McKinney led TSU to a 5-6 record in 2022, and many believed the team was destined for its first winning season since 2010. The Tigers held the lead in six of their eight games against FCS competition last year, but struggles in the second half persisted throughout the season. TSU only won two of the contests they led against FCS foes.

Dishman left no doubt that the standards would be high under his leadership.

“The first thing I did during that team meeting was ask if any gentlemen were sitting in the room who didn’t want to make it to Atlanta - then I asked them nicely to get up and leave because we always have to shoot for the moon,” Dishman said. “I’m not settling for winning six or seven games. That’s not good enough anymore. We’re setting the bar high.”

While the expectations for 2024 are high, Dishman and his staff focused on laying the foundation needed for success on the field.

“Before we started spring ball, I had all these goals for what we wanted to accomplish. Coach Bennett has helped me a lot, and he reminded me that while goals look great on paper, the players need to understand the terminology and techniques,” Dishman said. “We focused on the fundamentals of football, and I think our guys got better because I took the goals away and concentrated on getting each player better at their position.”

Even with 19 years of coaching experience since his playing days, Dishman knew he would have a learning curve. What has that curve looked like thus far?

“Every detail matters, from the water bottles to recruits, parents, the coaching staff, people on campus, and staff on campus - the stuff you don’t deal with as a defensive coordinator,” Dishman said. “I’ve been learning to listen to them because if you hear people out, they will tell you exactly how they feel.”

DCTF’s Take

Texas Southern’s boosters became disgruntled during McKinney’s final years. His detractors ultimately point to his late-game decisions, which they believe led to the team’s struggles to close out games. What resulted was a level of dysfunction at an administrative level rarely seen in college athletics.

Enter Chris Dishman, who is not holding back on his expectations for the team in his first season. If TSU is to become the HBCU powerhouse boosters seem to expect, then Dishman will need them to donate the money necessary to compete at the highest level of FCS. Whether Dishman can consistently lead the Tigers to the Celebration Bowl largely depends on the donors being “all in.”