Inside WSU coach Jake Dickert’s playing days, which prepared him for the challenge of being the Cougs’ head man

Sep. 25—PULLMAN — Brett Borchart felt a little uneasy when he heard his Wisconsin-Stevens Point coaches call out his name.

The Pointers were in the middle of practice, early in the 2004 season, and they needed a backup holder for place-kicks.

They figured Borchart would make a good candidate. He was the team’s starting quarterback, after all, and he would already be on the field when the special teams unit came on.

“Just in case Jake can’t do it,” coaches said. “If he gets hurt or whatnot.”

That would be Jake Dickert, head coach at Washington State today, backup quarterback behind Borchart back then. He was also the team’s main holder. On this day of practice, though, coaches wanted to establish some depth at the position.

Feeling nervous because he had never held a place-kick in his life, Borchart took a knee a few yards behind the team’s long snapper. On his first practice rep, he caught the ball, put it down, tried to spin the laces out. He looked up at the team’s kicker, who had stopped in his tracks.

“I can’t kick that,” he told Borchart, who had put the ball down about a full foot away from where the kicker could boot it.

Over came Dickert, who offered some pointers. Here’s how you do it. Here’s how you mark your spot. Here’s how you hit your spot. After a few weeks of practice, Borchart got the hang of it.

“That’s Jake,” Borchart said. “Our coaches didn’t teach me how to do it. Jake did.”

“Jake being involved in mentoring Brett as a backup quarterback,” said Jesse Dickert, Jake’s older brother, “you could start seeing some of that coaching prowess come out of him.”

But Dickert wasn’t just helping out any teammate. He was giving advice to the guy who had passed him up. To those who played with Dickert, to those who know him best, there’s no better way to capture his ascent from Division III player to Division I…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/inside-wsu-coach-jake-dickerts-035900269.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-09-26 03:59:00

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