2 touchdowns, 189 yards were recorded against Mount Marty from the 6’4, 215lb, Kyle Dixon who is a transfer sophomore from the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville, where he played D1 baseball. In high school, Dixon was a two-sport athlete, recording 80 strikeouts in 48 innings and winning a regional championship in his senior year. In football, he was an all-state Defensive Back (DB), and South Central Conference Wide Receiver (WR). He also set records in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.
With the ability to play either baseball or football, Dixon stated that he chose baseball because “ I thought that I had a better chance to go pro, so that was my thought process behind that, in high school.”
He committed to Southern Illinois University (SIU) eventually transferring to Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville (SIUE) where he pitched 38 innings getting 44 strikeouts in 2022.
Dixon said that he transferred from SIU to SIUE because, “I didn’t pitch very well, my freshman year, then fall sophomore year I pitched pretty well, but when spring came around I couldn’t throw a strike. A new coaching staff came in and I didn’t perform well enough. So I lost my Scholarship.” Dixon transferred to SIUE because of performance, he wasn’t playing well enough to retain his scholarship at SIU so he transferred.
Dixon stated that he liked it at SIUE, “But the culture of the team wasn’t where I wanted to be, and that the direction it was headed wasn’t something I wanted to be a part of, so I choose to leave because I thought for my career it would be better being around more like-minded people.”
This led him to transfer to Culver-Stockton College (C-SC), to play football again. Dixon stated, “ I was done with baseball, I love football and wished I played it so this was an opportunity to do so.”
Dixon transferred last year, post-football season, and he said “It’s been nice here, it’s tight-knitted. Everyone is super friendly and welcoming to each other. Where at some schools it wasn’t like that coming in, so that’s been nice, it’s been easy to get acclimated when the people are good.”
Dixon’s response to playing football again was, “It’s been five years since I’ve played football and it has been one hell of a time, I’ve loved every minute of it, I’m definitely glad I’m back. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed playing baseball but even back to my freshman year, I was telling myself that I should’ve played football in college.”
Dixon Played his first football game in five years and his first-ever collegiate football game against Mount Marty on August, 31st. C-SC lost 42-14 but Dixon racked up 5 receptions, 189 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Dixon was asked if this is how he thought it would go, he said: “I’d like to say yes, but ultimately I didn’t know what to expect, after five years of not playing, but my team was able to get me to that point, Drake throwing the ball or the line protecting long enough for me to get open, so I had to trust in them, to be able to put me in positions to succeed, but I’d be lying if I told you that was going to happen.”
Dixion said his goals for the season are “To enjoy every moment of it, for it is my 5th, 6th year in college, so there’s not a lot of time left. It’s cliche but I am just trying to enjoy every single, practice, game, and everything. But I had this goal for myself before I even committed here, I want to be a First-Team All-American.”
Dixon has three years left of eligibility, and a lot of time to make something of his football career, he said “I don’t have specific career goals for football, that is something that I learned with baseball. I put a lot of pressure on myself to play professionally which caused me to play worse, so something that I’ve learned is to just enjoy it. I understand what it takes to be successful but not be hung up on the outcome, because at the end of the day, you can’t control what happens.”
Dixon ended the interview, with his beliefs on what the C-SC Football team will accomplish this year, he said “ I think we are a very talented team, but there are things we need to clean up, mentality-wise it’s tough going from a season like last year, and being able to flip the switch to be a different team, so it’s a little bit of a growth process. We have the ability to be a good team and it’s just growing into that team and refining our mentality on what it’s going to take to be successful.”
