Billy Dicken never will forget the 1997 season, his final at Purdue.
Why would he? The gutsy quarterback from Bloomington (Ill.) High became a fan favorite that year when he led the Boilermakers to a 9-3 mark and their first bowl since 1984 during what was Joe Tiller's maiden voyage as Purdue head coach. Dicken and Co., capped the year with an Alamo Bowl win vs. Oklahoma State.
In that magical 1997 season when Purdue finished No. 15 in the polls, Dicken earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, hitting 55 percent of his passes for 3,136 yards with 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. His backup that year? A true freshman named Drew Brees. More on that later.
The '97 campaign capped a resilient career that saw Dicken arrive in the fall of 1993, overcome a serious shoulder injury, broken sternum, move to safety and move back to quarterback.
The 6-2, 215-pound Dicken threw for 4,247 yards at Purdue with 25 TDs and 23 picks. He also found time to play on the baseball team while in West Lafayette.
Dicken went on to forge a career in pro football, playing indoors and in the CFL, while also coaching at many stops upon retiring.
GoldandBlack.com caught up with the 45-year old Dicken.
GoldandBlack.com: How did you matriculate to Purdue?
Dicken: Well, I mean, it really came down to Purdue and Northwestern. Illinois was in the mix, but then (John) Mackovic left for Texas. And Illinois was recruiting me and Jeff Hecklinski. They wanted us both, and I was gonna be the quarterback/athlete of the group. I wouldn't mind switching positions, but I thought I was better than Jeff, anyway. I visited with (Illinois coach) Lou Tepper but didn’t get a great vibe. I really liked Gary Barnett at Northwestern. I thought he was fantastic. My roommate on my visit was Pat Fitzgerald. It was a tough decision.
When I visited Purdue, I saw they had Mike Alstott, who was in a boot after getting hurt vs. Michigan State. They had Corey Rogers. They had some offensive weapons. And I thought I could play early, too. (Jim) Colletto was OK with me playing baseball, too.
I got to Purdue and redshirted. Everything was going as planned. I really lifted weights for the first time in my life. I used to laugh at those guys in the weight room in high school. But I hit them hard. Everything was going well. Then I got hurt vs. Indiana in 1994. I blew out everything in my shoulder, my ligaments, my rotater cuff. I had surgery.
I couldn’t get all the flexibility back in my arm by the 1995 season. It was strong enough to play, but I didn't have the flexibility to throw well enough.
GoldandBlack.com: That is when you moved to defense?
Dicken: Yes. The first couple of weeks of the season, I asked Coach Colletto if I could play defense. I had in the past. I had to earn my way up. I was a pretty big DB, 6-2, 220 pounds. I dominated in the physical drills and ran pretty well. I was a backup free safety and played some special teams. It worked out in 1995. I actually switched back to quarterback late in the season after someone got hurt.
GoldandBlack.com: What happened in 1996?
Dicken: The next year in 1996, I played well in camp but (Rick) Trefzger won the job. We opened vs. Michigan State and they benched Rick at halftime and I went in. We lost at Notre Dame the next week and then I broke my sternum vs. West Virginia in a night game. I was out for the year after three games.
GoldandBlack.com: How special was 1997, your fifth-year senior season?
Dicken: I wasn’t guaranteed a job coming into the year. I didn’t play well in the spring of 1997. I was terrible. I don't know what was wrong. I just didn't play well. They had John Reeves ahead of me. Rightly so. I didn’t play good enough to be the guy. I worked hard in the summer. I wasn’t gonna let this happen.
Brees arrives. He is playing well, and so am I. Three days into camp, they switched Reeves to defense and made me the No. 1 quarterback. John was really struggling, and Brees was doing well and was my backup.
We didn’t play well at Toledo in the opener (36-22 loss). Our game plan was different than it was in upcoming games. I didn’t play well. When you run a system like that, the quarterback has to play well or you are in trouble.
The next week in practice, they cut my reps in half going into the Notre Dame game. But we rebounded and played well against Notre Dame (28-17 win). There was no controversy after that. I didn’t play well vs. Michigan State (22-21 win) and Drew came in late, but I think he ended up throwing a pick. We rallied to win the game.
Story continues below photo
GoldandBlack.com: Could you have envisioned being a first-team All-Big Ten quarterback after you hurt your shoulder back in 1994?
Dicken: I always envisioned that. That is how I was made up. I always thought I was gonna be the guy. I always thought I would be the best in the Big Ten. Obviously, it didn't work out exactly the way that I planned it. I got hurt, I missed a couple years. I couldn't play baseball, either, because of the shoulder injuries. But I still thought I was the best guy. I was just competitive.
A lot of things went our way in 1997. Adrian Beasley's TD vs. Notre Dame, the blocked field goal vs. Michigan State. It was fun. We played some good football. We had fun. I mean, the fans are going crazy. Everybody wanted to rip down the goal posts.
It wasn’t until later did I realize how good of a coach Joe Tiller was. To us players, it looked like he wasn't involved that much. He just kind of walked around and observed. As a coach later myself, I found out how involved Tiller was in the office. I just thought he walked around and told bad jokes.
GoldandBlack.com: Did you have any inkling of how good Drew Brees would become?
Dicken: No, to be honest. I thought he was a very good young player. As the years went on, it become he was really. You knew he would get a shot in the NFL, but he was shorter than me. And I was short. He didn’t have a great arm, but he was accurate. What he did have is he had his head on his shoulders the right way. He did it the right way. I didn’t do it the right way. Everyone knows that.
I liked to party, chase women, drink beer and play football. That’s what I was. And that's not doing it the right way. Drew Brees did it the right way. He knew he wanted to be an NFL quarterback. And he prepared that way, lived his life that way and that’s what he is. And that’s great. He’s physically outmanned. But mentally, and the way he prepares himself and went about things, he did it the right way in college and has been rewarded for that. That’s great.
GoldandBlack.com: What was it like to play arena football?
Dicken: It was fun. It was kind of up my alley. I liked to drink beer and chase women and play football. That was the Arena Football League. I didn’t even do that right. I played well, but I just could have been more serious about football while I was playing. Maybe I would have played a little longer, maybe I would have played in the NFL a little bit. I don't know. It’s OK. You make choices and it steers you in certain directions.
I met my wife (Jessica) and I have a 7-year-old daughter (Ashlyn) who is unbelievable. … I am very happy with my wife and family. We are happy in Raleigh, N.C.
I'm not coaching this year. I’m doing some insurance restoration stuff and some other little things. I was coaching at N.C. State the previous two years as a quality control coach on defense. We moved here because my wife had a job opportunity that was too good to pass up. N.C. State wanted a younger guy, and that’s a younger guy role. We will reevaluate things in December and January to see what I want to do. I wouldn’t mind becoming a head coach at a D3 school.
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