By: Joey Mullins
Samford Athletics
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Today, we continue our series named the S-Club Profile, focusing on former student-athletes and giving updates on what they have been up to since finishing their Samford playing careers. In this month's edition, we highlight former baseball standout T.J. Dixon.
 
Dixon played baseball at Samford from 2014 to 2017. He left school as a highly decorated player. He holds the program's career records for at-bats (895) and runs scored (188), and he ranks second in games played (232) and third in hits (264).
 
Even with all of his accomplishments, Dixon said it was family and getting to play his final two seasons with his younger brother, Troy, that he really loved about Samford.
 
"It always felt like a family here at Samford," Dixon said. "To be able to play here two years with my brother, it was just quite the family experience. Coming from Mobile, Alabama, my family was always able to come here and make a trip out of it, every weekend. They would come up here and see my brother and I playing together on this field. So, Samford has always felt like a part of the Dixon family."
 
It's because of that family feel and closeness with his coaches and teammates from his time as a student-athlete that Dixon has returned to Samford as a volunteer assistant coach on the staff of new head coach Tony David. David spent the previous 17 seasons as an associate head coach at Samford, so Dixon was excited to return to work on David's staff.
 
"When Tony David got the job and he presented the opportunity for me to come back up and potentially coach, it was a no-brainer, especially after getting married and having a baby," Dixon said. "It just seemed like it was the right starting point for a coaching career that I had always wanted, especially after finishing up in professional baseball."
 
Dixon graduated from Samford in 2017 with a degree in public administration and social science. After graduating, he spent two seasons playing professional baseball in the Minnesota Twins organization. Dixon said after two years at the professional level, he knew it was time to move on to something else.
 
"I was there for just two years, I finished up early on in 2019," Dixon said. "I had a couple of offers to go play some independent ball, but I decided that the best bet for me would be to pursue coaching. When you see a bunch of guys who are throwing 100 every day, you realize it's a long road to the Big Leagues. Some guys continue to pursue that their entire lives, but for me, I felt like I had done everything I could do, leading up to that point, in my playing career. So, I was ready to hang up the cleats."
 
After professional baseball was over, Dixon gave lessons and worked with travel ball teams. He was also involved at Samford as a color analyst for the ESPN+ broadcasts of Samford's home baseball games.
 
"I had to chance to, once I graduated, come back here and do a little broadcasting as well," Dixon said. "That wasn't even my major, but Jon McAfoos thought I would be good at it after interviewing me. So, that's how that ended up happening."
 
Dixon and his wife, Morgan, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee. However, he was still travelling back-and-forth to Birmingham, giving baseball lessons and helping coach travel ball teams.
 
"I was actually back and forth here doing lessons, coaching travel ball for the Excel Baseball Academy, a really established travel ball team out of Oxford, Alabama, they produce tons and tons of Division I and professional guys," Dixon said. "And then I moved to Nashville and worked for a guy by the name of Turner Ward, who was a big-league coach, did some travel ball coaching for him as well. And that kind of led me back here after Tony got the call."
 
Dixon moved his family back to Birmingham when he got the offer to work on the Samford baseball coaching staff. He said it was not a hard decision for him to accept the offer from David.
 
"When I got the call from Tony, it was a no-brainer, the biggest thing was talking it over with my wife, telling her, I know we just moved to Nashville, we've been here less than a year, but she understood how special Samford was to me," Dixon said. "She understood the opportunity. I knew I wanted to come back and give back in another way. And, once the logistics lined up, we moved. We had a baby in November after moving here in August, so it was a lot in little bit of time, but it's been well worth it."
 
Dixon will officially begin his collegiate coaching career when Samford opens its season by playing host to Arkansas State on Friday, Feb. 18, at 4 p.m. at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
For more information on the S-Club, contact Hal Langston at hlangst1@samford.edu. For giving opportunities, please contact Maggie Folker at mrountr1@samford.edu.