Bowl Trip a Reunion for Charlie Dickey and Fiesta Bowl a Family Tradition
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – When it comes to Oklahoma State’s roster, the bulk of the 140-man group comes from within a 4-hour radius of Stillwater. Tons of Oklahoma and Texas flavor are among the players but with coaches, they hail from all over the country. They move around the nation as they have different jobs over their career and are now settled in Stillwater.
For one specific coach though, this trip to Arizona is every bit of a home reunion as you can find.
Offensive line coach Charlie Dickey was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is a 1980 graduate of Saguaro High School, a dominant football program that boasts 13 state championships in their history. He then attended University of Arizona to play football.
For the bowl prep this week, Oklahoma State and Notre Dame have been practicing at local high schools with good facilities.
One of the schools for Oklahoma State was Saguaro High School. Dickey’s school.
It has been quite some time since Dickey has been back in the facilities of Saguaro as this was the first time Dickey has ever seen his name on the “Next Level Board” which lays out every Saguaro alum to go to college or the NFL to play football.
Dickey has both of these accomplishments. Next to his name sits the U of A logo as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers logo.
Mike Gundy spoke about some of the connections some of the Cowboys staff and roster has to the area such
“We knew [Arizona] was his home and he played here, so we were leaving to go to practice the other day and I said, ‘Hey Coach Dickey, do you know how to spell the high school we’re practicing at today?’ and he said ‘Well you know that’s my school, right?’
Gundy said he did not realize that was the high school he attended and added that the Oklahoma State team has several connections to Arizona, but specifically the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas. “It’s been really neat; we’ve got several connections out here and it’s been fun for them to come back and be here for a week.”
The Fiesta Bowl also happens to be a fun connection to Dickey and his family. The Fiesta Bowl has been around since 1971 and with Dickey’s family living in this area, they have held tickets for all 50 seasons of the bowls existence. Yes, FIFTY!
This will be the third time Coach Dickey will be coaching in the Fiesta Bowl, the first coming in 1994 and the second in 2013.
I would have to imagine there are some extra special emotions from himself and his family getting to spend a little bit more time together around the holidays than what they are used to.