BURNABY, BC — Simon Fraser University football head coach Mike Rigell has added a veteran voice with a local connection to his coaching staff with the appointment of former NCAA Division II and Division III head coach Wayne Dickens as special teams coordinator and defensive line coach.
 
Dickens has coached at all levels of the NCAA and he has a local connection through the BC Lions. Early on in his coaching career, Dickens was a receiver's coach and special teams assistant for the Lions in 2002. He has also been a regional scout for the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
 
Dickens' head coaching experience was with NCAA Div. III The College of New Jersey (2013-2015 seasons) and NCAA Div. II Kentucky State University (2009-2012 seasons). Dickens enjoyed a pair of winning seasons while head coach at Kentucky State and he has an overall record of 28-43 as an NCAA head coach.
 
Dickens has been an offensive and defensive coordinator, he has worked with special teams and he has been a position coach at multiple NCAA schools during a nearly 30-year college coaching career. Most recently, Dickens was special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Lincoln University, an NCAA Division II school in Pennsylvania.
 
Dickens' first collegiate coaching experience came in Seattle, as a graduate assistant at the University of Washington in 1992. He assisted with the defensive Line, linebackers and special teams with the Huskies, who won the Pacific 10 Conference Championship and went on to the Rose Bowl.
 
During his coaching career, Dickens has also participated in the NFL Minority Internship Program, serving internships with the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins.
 
A native of Orange, New Jersey, Dickens received a degree in English from Rutgers College.