Dickerson (8-47) Resigns at Temple

Ron Dickerson, who gave himself five years to right Temple’s foundering football program, resigned Monday after his fifth season left him 8-47 as coach of the Owls.

“We leave this program in a lot better shape than it was when we arrived,” Dickerson said in a statement. “I personally feel as though a lead weight has been removed from my shoulders. I’ve taken a big sigh of relief.”

In 1993, Dickerson inherited a program that had gone 52-90 in the 12 seasons since Wayne Hardin led the Owls to 10 wins and Temple’s only bowl victory, 28-17 over California in the 1979 Golden State Bowl. At the time, he was the only black coach in Division I-A.

But he never turned the team around, posting three 1-10 seasons, a 2-9 mark in 1992 and this season’s 3-8 record. Had he not stepped down, his firing would not have come as a surprise.