Darrell Dickey Darrell Dickey ( born December 6 , 1959 ) is an assistant American football coach at the University of Memphis . Before joining the Memphis staff he was the offensive coordinator at Texas State for the 2011 season and at the University of New Mexico for the 2009 and 2010 seasons . He was head coach of the University of North Texas from 1998 to 2006 . During the 13 years prior to his stint at North Texas , Dickey was an assistant at SMU , UTEP , LSU , Mississippi State , Memphis , and Texas A & M . Subsequent to his tenure at North Texas , he was an assistant at Utah State and New Mexico . Dickey was a quarterback in college , playing for his father , Jim Dickey , at Kansas State University . He is noted for leading the University of North Texas football program to their only bowl win in 2002 . The win highlighted a four - year period ( 2001 – 2004 ) during which the Mean Green became only the 11th program in college football history to win four consecutive conference titles . Dickey received a rare , curious honor in 2006 after being fired by the University of North Texas . A donor requested that school officials name the new football practice facility in honor of him despite his dismissal . The donor did not want to have his own name branded on the practice fields , but believed the program ' s accomplishments under his leadership deemed Dickey worthy of the naming rights . Playing career . High school career . Graduated from Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill , North Carolina in 1978 . Passed for 2800 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2 years at CHHS . Voted conference player of the year in 1977 and was a 1977 Shrine Bowl Participant College career . Dickey was the starting quarterback at Kansas State for four seasons from 1979 to 1982 . In 1979 , he established the school record for passing yards by a freshman with 915 , a record that stood until 2005 when Allan Evridge broke the record with 1 , 365 yards . Dickey concluded his collegiate career in 1982 by leading the Wildcats to the school ' s first bowl appearance in its 87 year history , the 1982 Independence Bowl . He left Kansas State ranked second all - time in pass completions , yards passing , touchdown passes , and total offense . Dickey remains only player in Kansas State history to lead the school in passing yards and total offense for four consecutive seasons . NFL career . He signed free agent contracts in 1983 and 1984 with the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints respectively . Coaching career . Dickey served as a graduate assistant under Jackie Sherrill at Texas A & M in 1985 , where he was part of a staff that led the Aggies to their first Southwest Conference title since 1975 . In 1986 he was hired by Charlie Bailey at Memphis to serve as tight end s coach in 1986 . The next season he coached the running back s , and the year after that he was appointed offensive coordinator . During his time with the Tigers , Memphis upset Southeast Conference powers Alabama in 1987 and Florida in 1988 . The win against Florida was at The Swamp . In 1990 , Dickey was hired to coach quarterbacks and running backs at Mississippi State . That season , the Bulldogs beat LSU , 34 – 22 , to end a five - season losing streak to the Bayou Bengals . Dickey pupil Tay Galloway ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns in the victory . In 1991 Dickey became tight ends coach at Louisiana State , where he served until 1993 . The 1993 LSU squad upset # 1 ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa . He then rejoined Charlie Bailey as offensive coordinator at UTEP in 1994 and stayed with the Miners through the 1996 season . In 1997 , he served as offensive coordinator at SMU under Mike Cavan . The 1997 Ponies posted their first winning season since the return from their NCAA - imposed " Death Penalty . " The season included a 31 – 9 victory over former Southwest Conference foe Arkansas in Shreveport , Louisiana . Dickey was hired to be the head coach at the University of North Texas following the 1997 season . Following his stint at North Texas , Dickey became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Utah State for the 2007 and 2008 seasons . He was the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at New Mexico for the 2009 and 2010 seasons . In 2011 , he joined Dennis Franchione at Texas State as co - offensive coordinator and running backs coach . North Texas . When hired to lead the Mean Green , Darrell Dickey took over a football program which hadn ' t had a winning season since 1994 . In his fourth season at the helm , Dickey ' s Mean Green won a share of their first Sun Belt Conference title and played in the first of their four consecutive New Orleans Bowls . From 2001 – 2004 , Dickey led UNT to four consecutive Sun Belt Conference titles . From 2001 - 2005 , Dickey ' s North Texas teams won 26 consecutive Sun Belt Conference games , a streak that began on October 13 , 2001 with a 24 - 21 win over Middle Tennessee State and ended on October 4 , 2005 with a 13 - 10 loss to Troy University . During his tenure , Darrell Dickey led the UNT to high profile wins over Big 12 schools Texas Tech ( 1999 ) and Baylor ( 2003 ) . Additionally , the Mean Green posted a 2 – 1 record against Boise State during his time in Denton . In 2002 , he guided the Mean Green to the only bowl game victory in school history . After two consecutive losing seasons in 2005 and 2006 , Dickey was fired . North Texas paid out the remaining years on his contract . Current and former NFL players who played for Dickey at North Texas include :