SALEM, Va. – A Roanoke native and William Fleming High School graduate, Dere’ Hicks returns home to join head coach Bryan Stinespring’s staff ahead of the Maroons’ first full football season since 1942.
“I am truly honored and grateful for the opportunity to coach under Coach Stinespring,” Hicks said. “This moment is especially meaningful to me, as it brings me back home to the place where I grew up.”
Hicks most recently served as the assistant secondary coach and safeties coach at Division I VMI. He also coached defensive backs at Morehead State from June 2023 to March 2024, where his unit led the nation in interceptions. Prior to that, he coached cornerbacks at Mississippi Valley State and held positions at Savannah State and Virginia University of Lynchburg—Roanoke’s opening week opponent this fall.
“These are probably the best facilities that I’ve been a part of in my coaching journey, by far. That speaks volumes to me,” Hicks said. “I think I don’t just notice that. Once people come on campus and step foot on campus and they see exactly what’s going on and what’s happening, I think they will be blown away by what the AD and the president are doing with this college.”
As a high school quarterback under Keith Smith at William Fleming, Hicks threw for over 2,000 yards. He went on to start 39 of 45 games in the secondary at the University of Illinois, where he was named the team’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and recorded 143 tackles, 19 pass breakups, and three forced fumbles.
Hicks also played professionally in the Arena Football League for the Arizona Rattlers, Pittsburgh Power, Tampa Bay Storm, and Portland Steel. He graduated from Illinois in 2010 with a degree in speech communication.
One of the biggest pieces of advice Hicks has always carried?
“Be where your feet are and my feet are here at Roanoke College right now. So, I’m where my feet are--at home.”