Bills Coach, Buffalo Radio Legend Chuck Dickerson Dies at 86
Per an obituary from Smith-Corcoran Chicago Funeral Home, former Buffalo Bills assistant coach Chuck Dickerson has passed away at the age of 86 after a short illness.
A native of Hammond, Illinois, Dickerson became a Western New York staple through his five-year stint (1987-91) on the staff of head coach Marv Levy and later formed a lasting prescience on WGR, Buffalo's first all-sports radio station.
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After some coaching stints in the CFL and USFL, Dickerson was a general assistant for his first three seasons before becoming the defensive line coach in 1990-91, which saw the Bills take the first two of four consecutive AFC championships. Some of his proteges included the NFL's all-time leader in sacks, Bruce Smith, as well as Phil Hansen, Mike Lodish, and Jeff Wright.
An unceremonious end awaited Dickerson's Bills' career: leading into the Super Bowl XXVI showdown with the Washington Redskins, Dickerson made unflattering comments about the opponents' famed blocking group "The Hogs." Critics claimed that Dickerson's comments further motivated Washington and led to his ousting three days after the Bills' 37-24 defeat in Minneapolis.
“A lot of people didn’t like the way Chuck did it, but it’s football," Bills linebacker Darryl Talley in a Dickerson retrospective from Tim Graham of The Athletic in January 2021. "It’s a game. Sometimes, you try to get the other guy’s goat, get under his skin. I thought Chuck Dickerson was fun.”
After a brief term as the defensive coordinator at Illinois State, Dickerson returned to Buffalo and became a beloved radio figure at WGR, well known for his unfiltered, non-sugarcoated takes about the Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Listeners bestowed him the nickname "The Coach" and would often repeat his catchphrase "Who loves ya, baby?", borrowed from Telly Savalas' titular character of the CBS drama "Kojak."
“We had a relationship there that was special,” Dickerson said of his Western New York listeners in Graham's report. “I don’t try to explain it to anybody because I don’t understand it myself. Why was Buffalo my city? I don’t know, but it was. In a way, it still is, because I guarantee you that if I went back on the air today, I would have an audience one more time. The difference would be I would have some extraordinarily great things to talk about with the Bills rather than the horse (manure) that we went through.”
An All-American at the University of Illinois and an honorably discharged U.S. Marine, Dickerson is survived by his son Chris and four granddaughters.
