Texas Southern Hires Cris Dishman as Head Coach

Texas Southern’s coaching search has finally concluded with the school hiring Cris Dishman as the head coach. Dishman played cornerback in the NFL from 1988 through 2000 with the Houston Oilers, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings.

Dishman began his coaching career in NFL Europe with the Berlin Thunder in 2004 as the defensive backs coach. He took the same position at Menlo College (NAIA) in 2005 and became the defensive coordinator at Menlo for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. From 2008 through 2012 he was an assistant defensive backs coach in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers.

Dishman was the defensive backs coach at Baylor in 2015 and 2016. Since 2018, he has held various defensive coaching positions with the Montreal Alouettes (CFL), New York Guardians (XFL), IMG Academy (Prep school), New Jersey Generals (USFL), and Vegas Vipers (XFL).

The road to Dishman being hired was a long one for Texas Southern in a search that took two months to complete. TSU declined to renew the contract of then-head coach Clarence McKinney in November following a 3-8 season that dropped McKinney’s overall record to 12-35 with the Tigers. It appeared that former Alcorn State coach Fred McNair was set to be hired but the TSU’s Board of Regents wanted additional time to consider other applicants. Some of the other coaching candidates that emerged throughout the process were former NFL players Andre Johnson and Hines Ward.

Ultimately, Texas Southern did choose someone with former NFL experience. Dishman will be expected to elevate the football program to a new level as Texas Southern has never been a dominant program in the SWAC. The Tigers have won only 1 SWAC Championship in the last 50 years (TSU won the 2010 SWAC title, which was later vacated), an aspect the TSU administration believes Dishman can change.

Photo Credit to Texas Southern University Athletics