All was quiet as Quinton Maxwell began his snap count. First one clap, then another, as he started the play out of Ohio's pistol offense.
Right before the snap, a voice rang out from the sideline at Peden Stadium. It was booming and deep.
“Who are you?”
The voice was that of wide receiver’s coach Dwayne Dixon and the saying has been his phrase all season long.
On paper, Dixon has an impressive resume. But a closer look at his biography tells a much deeper story.
So who exactly is coach Dwayne Dixon?
The player
Born in Gainesville, Florida, Dixon attended Sante Fe High School in Alachua, Florida, where he earned a scholarship to the University of Florida for the 1980 season. Undrafted out of Florida after graduation, Dixon signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to begin his professional career.
But after leaving the Buccaneers that same season, Dixon was out of football almost just as quickly as his career began.
Then in 1987, his career was revitalized in a brand new way — The Arena Football League, the indoor league’s inaugural year.
“I had more fun doing that,” Dixon said. “I played in the NFL, but the camaraderie is nowhere near the same as in Arena ball. Those guys aren’t really playing for money, they’re playing cause they love the game and it shows.”
Dixon played for the Washington Commandos and Detroit of the AFL, along with the Buccaneers.
At the end of his AFL career, Dixon had 2,307 yards receiving and 35 touchdowns. He also had 133 tackles playing “Ironman” style, or both sides of the ball.
“It was like, this person that raised me, I didn't think he’d be this type of person on the field,” his son, Ian Dixon, said. “It’s crazy, he was a great ball player. He’s in the Hall of Fame for Florida and the Arena League, it’s really cool to say ‘that was my dad out there doing those things.’ ”
His play earned him a spot in the Arena Football Hall of Fame and the No. 15 spot on the top 25 AFL players of all time. He was a part of the first ever Arena League Hall of Fame class.
The coach
After his career ended, he went back to a familiar place — home.
Dwayne returned to Gainesville to become the wide receivers coach of the Gators, where he took part in a revolutionary style of spread offense: The Fun ‘n’ Gun.
Under first-year coach, Steve Spurrier, he joined the staff in 1990. He won six SEC Championships in 15 seasons as receivers coach, including a national championship in 1996 with the new offensive scheme.
Chris Doering saw the benefits.
Now an analyst for the SEC Network on ESPN after 10 NFL seasons and one of the most historic careers SEC history, Doering was once just a walk-on at Florida. He later earned a scholarship, of which he gives most of the credit to his former position coach.
“He proposed something to me, that I actually use in my speech today, when I talk about overcoming adversity," Doering said of his former coach. "(It) was this idea of using a negative and turning it into a positive, using this being snubbed as a way to motivate me and drive me.”
But Dwayne’s demeanor isn't something that's changed over his 26 years of coaching. Even his unique style of coaching has remained the same.
“He was always saying wild stuff,” Doering recalled, laughing. “We’d be out there in August, and the dude’s got long pants, shirt, multiple layers, he was always a little different than everybody else."
Dwayne's lessons carried on to North Carolina State, his next stop after his Florida gig ended in 2004, and to Ohio, where his former players are going through the same coaching style Doering did 20 years ago.
“He’s a guy that has taught me a lot of things on the field but also that apply to life," Ohio wideout Sebastian Smith said. "He’s someone that I look up to, he’s been a great college player, a pro player, he’s got a lot of experience coaching, I try to take everything I can from him.”
They’re lessons that Dwayne has always tried to keep the same throughout his entire career, something he hopes will mold his current players into maybe even what Doering became.
“We’re trying to execute the way we did at Florida, and bringing that here,” Dwayne said. “I haven’t changed the way I’ve coached, I’ve been coaching this way since 1990. It’s been a blessing for me to have guys that were hungry to make it to the next level.”
The person
If Dwayne is a character on the field, he’s a similar figure off the field, too. Just a little more subdued.
But not enough of a character in fact, to deter his son from attending Ohio and becoming a walk-on — at wide receiver.
“He doesn’t yell as much whenever he’s home, he’s a little bit quieter,” Ian said, laughing. “He’ll go into detail about things I need to get done, the different values and morals you need to get done, how to go about life.”
Ian played under his father from 2011-2014.
“He was my son, but not many people knew that because I treat all of my guys the same,” Dwayne said. “I always warned him, ‘you never call me dad when I’m at the university. And if I have to call home and tell your dad about what happened on that field? You’re in big trouble.’ I thought that was funny … cause I was his dad.”
But the father and son stories don’t end on the field. They extend to the Dixon household, where he showcases his other unique job title — tailor.
“I feel like I would get into trouble if I told you what his sewing room in the basement looked like,” Ian said, laughing. “The different fabric, the different styles of things he has in there, so much thread, needles, sewing kits.”
Dwayne start as a tailor was a tad unorthodox, however. He had to begin by cutting fabric his mother would buy from retail stores. But he always had his sights on designer clothing, something he couldn’t afford.
So he made his own style of designer clothing instead.
“I think I made my first Calvin Klein jeans out of a pattern from Vogue,” he said. “They only made women Calvin Klein jeans, so I had to cut the pattern, switch it, add the zipper, cut the hips off, and make it fit my body. Size 16 women’s pattern was my first Calvin Klein jeans I made for myself.”
He continued this throughout his entire adult life, but his clothing reverberated to even Ian’s friends during his childhood. Even they wanted some of Ian’s new clothes.
“People would see me and go ‘where’d you get those?’ Oh, my dad made them,” Ian would say. “He ended up having his own little tag. It said Dwayne Dixon clothing on them.”
The legacy
It might not be fair to remember Dwayne’s career by his sayings, but they’re the first characteristic players talk about.
“When he says ‘who are you,’ it’s basically every time you line up on the field, knowing what position you are, assignments you have,” Ohio receiver Jordan Reid said. “Who are you? You can make a play everywhere you are.”
Dwayne's playing and coaching career has spanned five different states, four different coaches and countless amounts of receivers. But it’s not the results of his career, one that’s produced dozens of NFL receivers, that’s been impressive. It’s the memories.
“He has done a great job with our players from day one,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “He is huge on fundamentals and he is always out there coaching. He never stops coaching on the field and that is what young receivers need.”
The memories stretch back to Florida, too.
“I never would have been able to compete at the Florida level or the NFL level if I hadn’t been taught those little details that allowed me to be successful, a lot of that is owed to coach Dixon,” Doering said.
But perhaps the strongest memories stem from the Dixon household.
“He loves coaching, no matter what level, no matter what,” Ian said. “Coaching somebody in basketball, in golf, he just loves to coach. I’m not sure where, but I do know wherever he ends up, he’ll always be a coach.”
It’s no coincidence when people come into contact with Dwayne Dixon, they leave with him as a mentor of their lives.
Whatever they remember him as, it’s guaranteed to be of fond regard.
So who is Dwayne Dixon?
That’s a complicated question. But for Dwayne, someone who has seen the brightest lights that sports has to offer, for now, the answer is wide receivers coach of the Ohio Bobcats.
