BY JAMONE DAVIS // It is one thing to play  for your father, but it’s another to get the opportunity to coach beside him.
Hood College is one of many colleges/universities to have a father and son duo coaching the same men’s basketball team. Those two men are Tom Dickman who has coached here at Hood for over 11 years and his son Chad Dickman. Now of course
one may think they are not the only father and son to ever coach on the same team. There was also Richard Pitino and Rick Pitino, but there are far more teams where the son just played for their father.

Here at Hood, Tom Dickman has ran a critical program in regards to what direction he wants to take the team. Based on Tom’s coaching, it’s obvious he’s more into a slow pace and plays to his players’ strength. He would rather slow the game down and run set plays, rather than just playing fast and unbalanced. He went from being a high school basketball coach for 29
years at Governor Thomas Jefferson, winning seven state championships to being a college basketball program college all using the same strategy. When Tom accepted the position of athletic director, a job opening became available for him to have assistant. That’s when Chad came to mind.

“I know his basketball background in recruiting and I can’t hire people exactly like me,” stated Tom
Dickman in regards to his son. He said this because he knew that Chad could bring some new ideas and talent to the program. “I trust him to do the work I do not have time to do. He’s a smart guy, well-organized, and does his research,” he added.

Tom said he feels that Chad has a lot to bring to the organization and wants to take advantage of his previous experience as an assistant head coach. Now Chad was amazed at the opportunity to work with his father. He was the associate head coach of Wheeling Jesuit University for the past nine years in West Virginia. When he heard his father had an opening for an assistant coach, he saw an opportunity to return to Frederick and wanted to challenge himself with the basketball program here at Hood.

“A pro about working with my father is that he gives me the freedom to speak my mind and put in offenses and defenses allowing the players to have suggestions on how to make the team better,” Chad said.

The Dickmans’ have some similarities in regards to identifying player’s talents, but have different mind sets on the overall game. Chad’s coaching strategy is faster paced than his fathers which is an example on how Chad is a risk taker. Chad enjoys an upbeat tempo where the players run a quick offense and take
what’s available.

Tom on the other hand has the slow-paced strategy down pact. He hates letting the other team score easy baskets. He stresses tough defense and when it comes to being on offense, he wants his player’s to run the play he gives them. Everyone knows the red face Tom makes when the team lets an easy layup or open shot happen, but Chad could live with layups. He favors a zone defense over his
father’s preference of man to man.

Coaching his first year at Hood, Chad’s main focus right now is to help the program get better every day. Chad enjoys working with his
father and stated, “I don’t think either of us would argue about more time away, but he trusts me to do my thing. He does not look over my shoulder so; we really do not see each other most of the day due to his new position as athletic director. Mainly see one another during practices and games.”

“The transition to Hood was made a lot easier because my father has been good with opening up to new input and ideas,” Chad said. They combine the best views and ideas for the best outcome for the team.

According to Cameron Cook, senior guard for men’s team, the system Chad has brought is new and improved with results of the best record since he’s been here. This system is similar to what is known as “run and gun” where players will score whether the original play falls together. He feels as though everything is paying off and they would not have the current record of 17-10 if Chad had not
input his game plan. Cook is leading the conference in three-point shots and points scored averaging almost 16 points per game. “I been leading scorer here, but it would’ve been best to play my part in the offense and help out in anyone possible,” he said when asked about his role on the team.

The team went to the semi-finals and fell short against Stevenson. Though the team did not make the tournament this year, both coaches are proud of the team’s performance and look forward to next season.