BACK TO A COACH WHO CAREDHEAD COACHJeff DixonMarch 5, 2025Alvarado · Ennis · Katy · Palmer · Fort WorthCoaching locations: Alvarado, Ennis, Katy, Palmer, Fort Worth.A COACH WHO CAREDBEST MOMENTS“I was struggling as a young head coach, questioning whether or not to even coach. I reached out to Coach Harrell, and he said, 'Coach, you come talk to me any time.' And I did — I opened my heart to him.” PLAY AT 1:37“That guy may live in project homes, may live with grandparents, may be around all kind of junk at home — but he still has a soul and a good spirit, and he's going to be a man someday.” PLAY AT 5:52“Mandy and I both cried like babies — not because we were having to move again, but because we were leaving a coaching staff, a culture, that had been built by Sam Harrell.” PLAY AT 9:21CHAPTERS0:00Hall of Honor coaches who shaped Jeff Dixon0:56Struggling at Palmer — reaching out to Ennis' Sam Harrell3:07'I may have a job for you': joining the Ennis staff5:00Don't punt kids down the road: accountability with love7:21Why he didn't clean house — and the tearful move to KatyTRANSCRIPTHide −0:00I I've asked coach Dixon to just share a little bit about uh just a coach who has uh that cared and and made an impact on him and he's willing to do that so I'm going to let him let him go here again thank you Josh uh yeah and I've had a lot of coaches now impact me as a player but but even as a as a coach and I I know not many folks in this profession uh can can uh boast this piece uh and and Bob Leed0:33better Steve lineweaver Kenny cook those are Hall of Honor coaches who impacted me my very first year coaching and then and then from there to go to a place like Katie where Mike Johnston and Gary Joseph again those are Hall of Fame Hall of Honor coaches impact me and and they all have a special place in in my heart uh there was a time when when my coaching led me through inis Texas and um even even before I was hired in inis I was I was a a head coach at Palmer1:09Texas and fighting like crazy try to find a way to win ball games and uh I I met Sam Harold U and we had kids that were attending summer workouts there uh from from Palmer Palmer adjacent to inis and we had a few kids that were working in the summer with with inis guys and uh so I got to know uh Sam a little at that time um I was struggling as a as a young head coach and just it was a time in my career which was which I was questioning1:47whether or not even need a coach uh didn't want to move my family again and I was just struggling and um I didn't really know Sam other than then I met him in in the Fieldhouse when our kids work at I just met him but some folks are are just special and and there something about him so I reached out to coacher and said hey do you would you mind giving me a few minutes U I just I got some stuff on my heart I need some advice and uh he2:26said coach you come talk to me any time and I did uh opened my heart to him I told him the battles I was having at Palmer and I wouldn't do that just anybody but he made it he made it uh very inviting for me to do that and and uh I GL I did U he he gave me some wisdom uh she gave me um some just some shared some stories some personal stories uh and it just encouraged me probably more than anything get encouraged me to hang in there um in3:03this profession and and I did and so fast forward that U that I was still at Palmer and so I I made a decision to to leave Palmer that spring and uh uh Sam I I didn't know where I was going to go I know I didn't want to move but I put it in God's hand and and I received a call from from Sam saying hey I may have a job for you and U as a math position a position coach on on staff and is I3:37don't have it yet but I may have one come open and and so I was appreciative of that and and uh God worked and um weeks later that job did come open I took job and so I got to go learn from him and uh so he didn't have to to at all uh he was already an established coach and established a program and things were were were moving in a great Direction and then it's but but he valued me as a young guy that that4:16um um he didn't have to do that but he did U he he knew more football than than I ever knew and yet he would listen to me and um and I appreciate that part and I I know I've told him he knows what I think about it I mean not he's he's a special guy and uh but um as a young coach who' just been through a tough road and he encouraged me he Lifted Me Up he valued me he listened to me and I I made4:49mistakes like we all do coaching wise and and uh but he he mentored and uh I was on staff with him for three years uh I got here's what I noticed coach Harold okay he's he's a brilliant coach but I don't know if I've ever been around a man who understood relationship building with kids so and it's pretty pretty special we we didn't have a bunch of deacons a dentist we had some good people and good kids but they needed people like s and uh uh he and he he taught me this uh5:35we got we got to whole kids accountable so you have to do that people going to learn you have to hold them accountable okay we don't need to run kids off and that's too easy uh so so the coaching part is is getting that guy to conform to what you want and that that that guy may live in in project homes and and may not may live with a grandparents parents and may be around all kind of junk at home uh but he still has a soul and a6:06good spirit and he was a worker and he's going to be a man someday and and and we want him to to buy in what what we're teaching is good and uh I saw him do that with a lot of folks that that many coaches would have just punted on down the road and uh no those people in inis would do anything for for Sam uh anything and and there's been many a young life that are very successful today because he didn't punt them down the6:41road and so I I took that and and that's I I've used it uh ever since I mean um you got to hold them accountable okay but you got to love them and um and and you can't there comes a time I guess in your career where guys just aren't going to get it but more times than not if you if you just hang in there with them um they they'll start to reflect your values and and so yeah I saw that saying say not not just with kids but with with7:18coaches so I said that here's another thing that stood out to me coach har uh so a lot of coaches head coaches want to go in and the first thing they want to do is they want to clean the house and ring in their people right and and and there's some Merit to that to a point um Co coach chold comes in and and Coach Paul Willingham who's an amazing person uh and coach and and he's he's again this staff that was at an inis was the7:47best I've been around and uh and Paul is an inis guy and he lived in inis before Sam ever came to inis and Sam comes to and and what did he do he didn't Paul off he saw the value in that guy and there was a lot of value and and and Paul's promoted to he runs the defense he's his right-hand guy and I thought man you can do that and and have success and and boy I mean they did and Paul's a big part of that I don't think they win8:20all those state championships without that that move yeah and then was not just Paul and then you had you had Paul you had Steve and and uh Wayne Walker and he he just had a staff of guys who who had bought in and and uh they loved working for him there was no turnover ever hardly with coacher and sath and so that that's why when after after three years uh and I I did receive a call to go back to Katie I know he knows it was a burden and I on8:58me I didn't want to go um I didn't want to go in fact I told Coach Johnston no and and he said pray and I did and and when you pray and God comes back and and that door moves you got to be obedient and take it and and I that's the only reason I left and it was hard uh leaving in it's going to Katie and uh Manny and I both cried like babies not not because we're having to move again or going to a bad place but9:27we knew Katie was amazing amazing place to go but because we're leaving a coaching staff that had been built by Sam Harold uh the culture that had been built the community started buying into that culture we loved it there um and and I was learning so much I knew we were going to be good football wise but um it was a hard move uh but um Sam Sam only for three years impacted me more than than he ever realized say and I'm eternally grateful uh for for him we10:03need more guys like coach cherell in this profession anyway thanks coach thanks coach harolINTERVIEWBEST MOMENTS“The fact that they've had to sacrifice so much just so I can fulfill this calling — that's been hard. The time away from home is the hardest part of this profession.” PLAY AT 11:23“I saw the value of meeting with our kids every day, because when they took that away there was a hole in our program. What took years to build took a blink to lose.” PLAY AT 19:23“At the end of the day it's not how many ball games you won, it's how many lives you've impacted for our Savior. As a believer, to me that's everything.” PLAY AT 23:22“I look back at the lives I know I've impacted. I wouldn't have impacted those lives if I had just coached seven years — and truth be known, those lives have impacted me too.” PLAY AT 29:37CHAPTERS0:00Meet Jeff Dixon: 38 years, family as part of the ministry2:15Career journey: Southlake Carroll, Katy, Ennis, Alvarado6:56Sixth coach in eight years: the Alvarado turnaround7:58Why he chose coaching — and math over PE9:31Loves the field house, hates the time away from family11:51What's changed: phones, student baggage and film tech15:57Guiding principle: Coaches Outreach Bible studies18:57Culture is built daily — and what COVID took away20:33Success and faith: lives impacted, not games won24:04Trust, mentors and parting advice: be a teacher firstTRANSCRIPTHide −0:00hello I've got uh Coach Jeff Dixon with me today I'm really excited about the opportunity to uh interview him I think he'll have a lot to share uh that would be really good for our profession and uh I'm I'm thankful for the opportunity to get a a coach's perspective with Jeff Dixon Josh thank you uh for the opportunity and I'll try you know I've got a lot of years of of experience so coach tell me about yourself uh just how long you've been coaching where just0:30just tell me about yourself a little bit so everybody will get to know you a little bit well uh so this uh in the in the coaching profession this will conclude my 38th year and so I've done it a long time but uh but about me first because it's a part of the coaching piece is my my team as my family and uh so uh in July Mandy and I would have been married well will have been married uh 39 years and so she she is1:00uh stting be 40 years she corrected maybe 40 years in July and uh she's a big piece of this uh she was a a coach's daughter who swore she'd never marry a coach after several moves as a young one that typically coaches at times have to pack up and go and and but I'm glad she did and we have three kids um all of them are um they're all adults now my my two oldest are Educators uh my son actually coaches on staff with me and um and then my1:38youngest just graduated high school at aveto high school and she's getting prepared to go off to mlon Community College so but they sacrificed a lot uh as a as a coach's family and um so I'm I'm extremely proud of them and and there there's just just a big part of this ministry as I am so and I think you were at uh oh my goodness uh this is not the right order Andis Palmer Katie yeah so it it it's a you do it long enough you go to a lot of places2:20and I was fortunate enough to to start at South Lake Carol right out of haran and I Coast there for three years I was there with a with a Hall of Fame staff literally Bob Leed better is amazing uh he's in the Hall of Honor Steve L Weaver was the OC he's in the Hall of Honor King cook just got inducted and he was a DC he's in a hall of Honor they were all my mentors at that time got to coach under them how about that yeah and I did2:48that for three years and and from there I coach Johnston Katy High School U uh was was he'd been there forever and and kind of built that program and that was my home and he actually called Co Leed better and said I know you got a math teacher there that I'd like to have on staff and and uh so I I followed that lead and left South Lake went to Katie um and you know like every coach um at at some point I started getting hungry for leadership and and so I was a3:23position coach at Katie teaching math and desire to to climb the ladder and and felt like I needed to to take charge in that piece and and so I was in Hot Pursuit Of Me at that time and I so I left after four years and I went to B OC uh I was an officing coordinator with with uh Joel Barry who coached at Carol at the time he was the head coach at Rogers and so I don't if you knew that one last so I was I was the OC at Rogers3:53for a year and then and then there I left and became uh got my first head job so had coaching job at Palmer Texas and and uh everybody has a palmer uh and and I had a chance to to you talking about learning I did I learned a ton and from there I I joined Sam Harold staff goodness gracious that that that's the best staff I've been a part of and that's sent a lot coming from Carol and coming from Katie and uh that that staff4:23is pretty amazing um and I learned a ton um and I went full circle and so so there's a lot in that Journey cuz from from inis I I went back to Katie and same phone call took place and I had a chance to go back home and and um and I really didn't want to go I can tell you did not want to go back uh Mandy and I both we loved our town we loved loved our our job we loved our church our kids4:54were um we had two at the time and and they were in schools there and we we just love den and we just we had we were winning okay so so we we we had uh just went to the semifinals and they hadn't been there in a while so life is good and and then it's and um but um we had been praying and we got a another phone call come back this time you can teach whatever you want to teach coach whatever you want to coach we got a spot for you and5:29uh basically told Coach Johnston no we're going to stay put he said well would you please I want to teach math and and the was a math position it was any other position with math and U long story short we we told him no we're going to keep praying and he called back about the last week of school and said we got a spot for you we had a math teacher all of a sudden resigned we weren't expecting it God orchestrated every bit of that and there's a lot of things that5:57took place we we made that move move and it was hard it's hard to leave that staff ad dentist but we did and um and a lot of things have taken place since that wouldn't have if we hadn't been obedient to God's movement there so you know so and then so Katie I serve there five more years and as able to serve as offensive coordinator there at that time and uh and that that opened another head coaching opportunity I spent I left there for alvaredo and I I served there6:27as their ad and their head football coach for seven seasons in a blink that's it was a long that was a long stint and I retired from Albero and um and then God opened the door to to to go and coach in a private school and that's where I am right now yeah Southwest Christian School uh 17 years wow that's a that's pretty amazing to be at one place so considering uh when I came I was I was a sixth coach in eight years years so they went it was a7:01carousel coach communities go through that from time to time yeah and so although Albero had a history of of doing well at this good small as a good football town but they they were going about a decade it was rough yeah and U yeah I was the number six guy in in in about eight years and then and then and we we started off the season 0 and six so I thought well there again but we turned it around in a hurry and it it was a good place for my family7:36I've talked to so many coaches that worked with you as their head coach at alvaredo and uh they just go on and on about uh how much they enjoyed working for you and with you and uh they got you know nothing but respect so uh there's a lot of guys that really look up to you from that little 17year extent also why did you choose coachi so originally I chose it U because I love to compete okay I played football at high pain and um you know I went8:11there sad to say I didn't I didn't go to H pain for the academic piece I went because I had a chance to go play ball and and and I could get education at the same time and so I did that um and a lot of men had influenced me in the coaching world and and uh so I know that's what I wanted to to do so I I chose a teaching field that's a big one guys if you're going to go that route pick a field that's desirable8:40and uh PE is not really desirable uh there's I chose math I had a PE degree but I also chose math as a teaching field and uh so I went that route and I went in it because I like the sport I like to compete after a year in it not even a full year year I realized it more there's probably more to it than just that and U so U it soon became my calling so as I matured and my faith grew I realized that man there's guys9:12out here that don't have the the parental back back support that I had and a lot of them I mean it it was I saw a side of of uh life that I didn't know until I got into education and so that was what are some of the things that you enjoy or enjoyed about coaching oh the the the the Fieldhouse and uh the the coaches and we spent a lot of hours together and and uh um so there's a lot of funny stories and some9:50great men you invest your lives around those guys and so that part is um been good enjoyed every bit of it so when I when I retired I probably missed that part more than anything was was just the Fieldhouse you know U just the the kids and the coaches that are in and out of there yeah I uh what are some things that you don't like about coaching list is long huh yeah but can't be um that the hours are beat down okay um and so uh my family's is is everything to me10:39and uh you know you know Tom Landry was a a guy that that I looked up to never met him but but I watched him from afar and he he back when I was growing up you know the Cowboys they were very respected and they were respected they were America's team greatly because of him and his his faith was strong and he he would tell you God first family second John third and and well and I get it out of whack sometimes and and I have in11:13this profession uh it's easy to to to put work first and then then put or to put other people ahead of your family they take a back seat sometimes and and um so the fact that they've had to sacrifice so much just so I can fulfill this calling um that that's been a hard now they they they're great and and they know that it's a Ministry they're just as part of the ministry as as as as I am and that helps but the time away from11:48home is the hardest part of this profession yeah uh what what stands out to you about how coaching has changed over your years as a coach yeah so so it uh bo it has um the outside of x's and o's was changed um it it's I think the the the the the students uh they they have a lot more baggage now it appears yeah than what they what they did 38 years ago12:35um kids are kids and and and the world's the world but you know these little cell phones uh have added to just in one example of added to the the stuff that you battle with and you know 38 years ago there was as much and so so Athletics meant something everybody wanted to to play football and be a part part of of being Athletics and football is the front porch of any school and most folks want to be a part of that and nowadays that maybe not as much um that13:11they they there's other things pulling them away so yeah that that part has probably changed the biggest the the although everybody loves to watch Super Bowl and and and love loves to watch it still but but uh that that there's there's just a lot of stuff out there that U it's a battle for yeah well and U not to mention you know we used to um have to go trade a VCR tape on a Friday night or a Saturday morning and just just to be able to get13:47prepared for so I'm glad you brought that up but U so it has evolved obviously and uh and you would think technology uh it's all great right okay and and they they it does so much for you so you think it would save time but but it's just added to things that you have to do that you can do but yeah so I I did grow up in the era but even before VHS when we had that 16 mm re tape and uh and um yet yet my first year coaching14:24we we had to go and exchange we had to wait till the the film was developed and there's only certain areas in Texas that would do that you'd go and you wait so I got to live through that piece uh short and then it jumped right into the VHS tape yeah and uh so I think it's interesting you bring up the the technology you know now we just push a button share the film we don't have to drive anywhere which is that part's great yeah but you bring up a good point14:54and that is that um okay well now look at what all you can do and now you just you just dive in and such a coaches are so anal and we want to get every Advantage we can so now we're just diving in and and yeah making so many little reports that we never had back then and uh it it definitely will keep your staff busy it it's a lot it's a lot and but that that that has been a big big you know football's dool the two15:24obviously a little bit but you still got to tackle you still got to throw and catch football ball and still play defense I mean that's start part of the game yeah but uh U the the technology piece I mean you have you have drone angles you have Endzone angles you have side angles you tie them all together and there's such great tools yeah well and you know if you got one school that has it you know you don't want to give them an competitive Advantage so then15:53you got to find the money or raise the money or whatever so you can have it and uh okay this is kind of a program question what what are some guiding principles that you recommend for a coach to guide him along his path yeah um well for me it my faith and and uh it it guides it guides everything uh for me um coach was Outreach is is a Ministry that uh my wife and I in fact it was coaches out Outreach we were at a16:29retreat and my wife um came to to the uh point where she realized that you know this this does involve me as a Ministry and I I don't know if that would have happened if it had been because it was Outreach um it's a Ministry that that supports coaches um they they it's kind of a three-part Ministry one one big part of of the ministry U are or materials and bible study that's a big biggest piece they they're all over the country now but it's a it kind of17:04parallels FCA fellowship with Christian athletes but coaches Outreach they they have Bible studies they they they pattern after your Seasons so U and they offer them to schools right so there's a fall study and a spring study so the fall study is usually 12 weeks long and uh I would uh encourage you uh any coach to to to surround yourself around um uh programs like that um even in the fall so there there were many many in the early days I hate to say this I wouldn't do it in the fall17:43because it's kind of busy so I do it in Spring and wouldn't and uh my time spent at in on the in staff and and I realized in a hurry that you know we're going to do it in the fall and and guess let me tell you um I managed the season so much differently because of my involvement in God's word um and yeah it it does it takes a little bit of your time uh we would usually meet in the mornings early on Friday mornings so get up early and go and I've18:22never I've never regretted going to a study ever uh even maybe after a long Thursday night or it's been a long week or we traveled the Thursday night before we come in i' I'd get up and go and 100% of the time it it was worth it and um so I I would encourage that that that growth helps keeps just your your your priorities in check and and uh and it it it really drove everything I did throughout the program so yeah all right um How do you develop the right culture19:00in your Athletic program well the think you got to talk about it every day and uh and then you have to to do things to to address whatever your your core values are uh daily and uh so I had a chance to to to live through the co piece which was horrible for everybody um and I saw the value of of meeting with our kids every day cuz when they took that away and then we got it back a year and a half later there was a lot of time the miss19:38that that I'm that for our program there was a hole there and it took which took years to build it took a blink to lose and um so you you the the your core you you're You're All Seasons centered around it you're you're uh you you you have development U your relationship building with your kids is all centered around it um and then you don't deviate from it and and you you you you you have core values that you believe in um don't change them from year to20:19year to year to year uh consistency and and uh um and just you what the work you do needs to be centered around those values thanks coach uh what does success look like how do you define success well you would think it looks like uh state championship rings and Banners and and uh and we all want to win right and and and as competitive Athletics you don't win typically you you're packing up at some point and and moving but that's that's not what it's all about21:03um um the it it's it's the the the life uh relationships that you build U there a lot of lot of folks that you coach that don't have a a a home structure they or they certainly don't have the man in their life that that's going to shoot straight with them tell them right from wrong hold them accountable um and that to me that's it that's that's why we do what we do and winning it it it'll take if you do the culture piece and you do the work piece21:40and you sound at what you do and um you know that piece will take care of itself but you can't miss the the piece the the the influence that a coach has uh on lives um is powerful so amen uh okay how important is uh faith in our profession faith in your coaches players others God yeah you've kind of already talked about it a little bit I know but yeah well um there there's and we're influencers and and uh as an influencer22:29I take it pretty serious and um the the the opportunity to to that's not necessarily what you say it's how you live and how you treat people and how you work U all that to me is reflects me in in in my faith and um it's it's life it's Eternal that point um now uh the there's folks out there that don't believe that and uh they're still influencing kids and um um there and and so I just think it's important that we get that part right uh23:14certainly as a as a person that that is has a strong faith u i mean it it U um at the end of the day it's it's not how many ball games you want it's how many lives you've impacted for him for for our savior and as a Believer uh to me that's everything and even in the public school setting um I've never Shi away from being who I am and uh yeah I don't think I have to to to throw it down the throat I think I think23:49folks they they see you they know you they hear how you talk they they hear what you listen to they hear how you they see how you treat people yeah and to me it guides everything yeah uh I so respect what you just said coach but I I want to ask you too about faith in your coaches uh you you've been doing it a long time how important it how important is it that you believe in your coaches and they believe in you and you're believing in the kids and the kids are24:21believing in the coaches how do you look at that well you're not GNA if if you if any of that is that a whack you're not going to achieve the success that you want and U that that what you just that statement you said is a Gordon Wood statement and uh there's n better than him but you you better build a culture that has players who believe in each other right if you don't have teammates that have faith in each other we got an issue okay but it goes deeper than that those24:56players they they need to believe in the coach too yeah and and so if if they don't if they're not coachable if they don't trust you they're not willing to run through a brick wall for you then we got problems okay but it goes a step further and and we have to trust them and and know that they're they're going to do what we ask them to do so we get all three of those things together then you're going to win a lot of ball games25:23and and so but if any if if any of that's out whack you got a culture problem and and and and you might win some games but I don't know if you win a lot of championships yeah uh is um will you share some thoughts on what helped you become the person and Coach that you are I know you've already kind of spoke to this quite a bit but um well uh yeah it's my parents I mean I I'm I'm I'm for I was fortunate to have25:55a family structure and um so I'm who I am because of them okay now I spent an awful lot of time in the field house in the locker room in in the in the arena uh all my life and so there's other people that have invested and and those people are uh coaches uh they're Educators uh uh classroom teachers that that have impacted me so so that that goes deep U on that part so although I I was blessed to have a family I was blessed to have26:32people that that uh influen me uh that they they taught me um how to not make excuses they held me accountable by maybe give me a great I deserved you know and uh uh taught me how to work and so that the U I was fortunate because I had some good influencers um maybe that's one reason why I went into coaching but uh I had a math teacher uh several that that in high school and college that that meant a lot to me uh my High School coaches I mean27:15they were they were they could walk on water I mean they were good men and I could tell they love not just me but our us and I just wanted to I thought that was cool they coaches I wanted to be like them and then U and had a what a blessing it was to to have a chance to go go play at the next level and and see those guys if they even doted up a notch and and to be around you know Bill Hicks was was my27:48head coach and in college but but he put guys around him that were Hall of Famers Bill Anderson um um they just to influence me yeah uh anything else I haven't covered before I let you go here it's it's been good um it's the best profession in the world and I it's hard and that that that I didn't touch Ono you asked what's changed in the coaching World well the education piece has a little bit you you better be a teacher uh you better do you better take care of28:30business in the classroom where you won't be you won't be coaching long and uh honestly it goes hand in hand yeah the same passion that it takes to to prepare uh for football or whatever Sports you're coaching you better you better prepare for your lessons and and how you teaching those kids to to to motivate them to be successful you if you do that that Administration will see it and they'll recognize it and you'll have a great career uh we can always find every year you you I still do today I try to find29:08out what the heck I need to do better and uh whether it's in the classroom or or on the practice field but uh that if if you do all that you'll have a good career there's sad to say the average life of an educator seven years what they tell me wow and um what a shame that's scary and well it is because i' I've lived it for almost 40 and um I look back at the the the lives that I know I've impacted um I wouldn't have impacted29:45those lives if I had just coped seven years and and and truth be known those lives have impacted me too um you can make more money doing a lot of things right but I I don't know is a better profession just personally speaking Yeah so well I I so appreciate coach Dixon for sharing a coach's perspective uh I it's I've enjoyed it and I think it's something that a lot of a lot of us need to hear and I'm encouraged by what he said uh you know as coaches we you know30:18we got to we need to love kids and we need to hold them accountable we need to hold them to a standard we need to show them that they can be held to a standard and they can achieve and you know so many other things but you know love those kids and and you know trying to put our best fo forward I appreciate coach Dixon uh kind of letting the river flow a little bit you know us older guys you know we we've been through it and30:42done you know done a lot but uh sometimes we're not sharing that like we need to or or have the opportunity like this like this interview where he can share that and uh so I appreciate him taking the time to do that and uh very thankful and uh I wish all you guys the best and you've heard Jeff Dixon with a coach's perspective thank you thank you Josh
A COACH WHO CAREDFormer High school coach shares a story about Sammy Harrell-Ennis High School.- A coach who cared!VanMEET JOSHUA
