So, I was just flipping channels the other night, you know, usual stuff, trying to find something to stick on. Landed on a college basketball game. Honestly, can’t even tell you who was playing at first. But the announcers started yapping about one of the coaches, Jamie Dixon. And it kinda clicked, like, man, this dude’s been coaching for a while, hasn’t he?
How I Started Thinking About This Guy
I remember him way back from his Pittsburgh days. Those Pitt teams were always a tough out. Seemed like they were always in the NCAA tournament, or at least making a lot of noise. You just kinda knew if Dixon was coaching, his team was gonna play hard, especially on defense, and they wouldn’t beat themselves. Wasn’t always the prettiest basketball, not like some of these teams now that just wanna run and gun and score a hundred. But damn, it worked. They won a ton of games back then.
Then, suddenly, he’s at TCU. And if I’m being honest, I didn’t expect much. TCU basketball? Never really on my radar. But then, slowly but surely, you started seeing TCU pop up. Making the tournament. Winning some big games. It’s like he just knows how to build a program, or maybe rebuild one. Takes a team that’s maybe not been great and turns them into something respectable, something competitive.
- He must get guys to really buy into what he’s selling. That’s a big part of it, I figure.
- It’s not always about having the fanciest five-star recruits all over the court.
- It seems more about his system, how he develops players, and that gritty, grind-it-out style.
But here’s what got me thinking, right? For all that steady success, for all those wins at different places, you don’t really hear his name blasted all over the place like some of the other top coaches. Is it ’cause he’s not a flashy personality? Or maybe his teams, while good, don’t always produce those insane highlight reels every night? I really don’t know.
It’s almost like he’s the old reliable pickup truck of college basketball coaches. Not the shiny new sports car that everyone gawks at, but the one that just gets the job done, day in and day out, year after year. And maybe that’s okay. Maybe just being consistently good, even if you’re not always spectacularly “wowing” everyone, is a pretty big deal in itself. I was looking at some of his old games, and yeah, his teams, they just played smart. They didn’t make a lot of dumb mistakes. That’s more than you can say for a lot of teams I watch.
So yeah, just a random thought that popped into my head from watching a bit of basketball late at night. Made me appreciate those coaches who just kinda quietly do their thing and consistently get results. Not everything has to be a big show with fireworks and all that. Sometimes, just solid, dependable work ethic is what really matters. And that’s what I saw, or at least remembered, when I started thinking about this Dixon fella’s career. It’s a tough business, and he seems to just get on with it.
