ST. PETERSBURG -- When Corey Dickerson was released by the Nationals in early August 2023, he figured he would head home to Mississippi, wait a week or two and be back in the big leagues with a new team. But his phone never rang, and no offers came after he spent the following offseason working out and getting ready to play.
That led Dickerson down a different path in baseball: coaching.
Dickerson took over the Jackson (Miss.) Academy high school baseball program in 2024 and helped turn the team around. He enjoyed the challenge. The idea of creating a culture excited him. He appreciated the opportunity to serve and teach younger players. Put simply, he liked coaching.
Now, he’ll be coaching in the Major Leagues. The Rays turned to the 36-year-old Dickerson to fill the open spot on manager Kevin Cash’s staff, hiring him as their first-base coach on Monday.
“These opportunities to go straight to the big leagues don’t come often,” Dickerson said in a phone interview. “With me still being really young, I can show the guys how I would like things to be done. I can relate with the kids a lot better because we’re close in age. And I respect them, because I know they’re the best in the world at what they do.
“I didn’t want to wait 10 years and get further away from the game. That kind of led to it.”
Dickerson, who played for the Rays from 2016-17 during his 11-year career, will also work with Tampa Bay’s outfielders and oversee the club’s baserunning. He is replacing former first-base coach Michael Johns, who left the Rays to become Blake Butera’s bench coach with the Nationals.
“I am thrilled to congratulate and welcome Corey to serve as our first-base coach,” Cash said in a statement. “I look forward to him bringing his experience and expertise to the Major League club.”
The reunion came about after Dickerson had been catching up with president of baseball operations Erik Neander about the state of the organization and other topics. Then, a few weeks ago, Neander reached out to ask if Dickerson could talk again.
“He said he's talking to Cash, and my name keeps coming up about something, and he was going to throw something off the wall,” Dickerson recalled. “He said, ‘What would your thoughts be about being a Major League outfield coach and first-base coach?’ And my stomach kind of turned a little bit.”
Two years ago, Dickerson wouldn’t have been ready for this kind of offer. He still wanted to play. But after spending the past year as Jackson Academy’s head coach, he was in a different place.
“As I got into it and realized what kind of change you can make with standards and details and holding kids accountable, it was pretty cool to see a turnaround,” Dickerson said. “But also, I felt like I had a lot to offer that you can't necessarily teach at that level.”
Dickerson officially retired as a player in 2024 after playing for eight teams from 2013-23 during an accomplished career in which he slashed .280/.323/.476 with 136 home runs and 469 RBIs over 1,083 games. He earned his only career All-Star nod with the Rays in 2017, when he slashed .282/.325/.490 with 27 homers and 62 RBIs.
Dickerson was traded to the Pirates in February 2018 for Daniel Hudson and Tristan Gray, and he went on to bat .300 while winning a Gold Glove Award for his play in left field. Never regarded as an excellent defensive outfielder before that season, Dickerson will have plenty to share with Tampa Bay’s group based on his experience.
“It's something new for me, so I get to dive into it and learn,” he said. “Whatever it is, I'm going to do my best to be the best I can be at it, even if it's new. I love the analytic part of it. I love how to get kids to incrementally change -- I think it's fascinating to me, and getting them to see it is unique and pretty cool.”
Dickerson will be the franchise’s ninth full-time first-base coach and the seventh Major League coach in Rays history who previously played for the franchise. The others include Cash and Ozzie Timmons, who rejoined the big league staff last month when he was hired as assistant hitting coach, as well as Paul Hoover, Rocco Baldelli, Dave Martinez and Wade Boggs.
There are still a lot of familiar faces around the team from Dickerson’s time with the Rays, including Neander, Cash and hitting coach Chad Mottola.
“There's so many people in that organization that are still there,” Dickerson said, “that it almost feels like I could walk in the room and feel like I never left.”