Veteran coach Julius Dixon enters his second season as the defensive coordinator for the Hawks and does so having every player back from 2014, all who have bought into his style of play.
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Under Dixon’s guidance last season, Shorter produced four All-Gulf South Conference selections in Jordan Shaw, Trevaris Horton, Zach Butts and Luke Wilson, with Shaw eventually being named the GSC’s Defensive Player of the Year and to six All-American lists.
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A native of Toccoa where he emerged as a standout at Stephens County High School, Dixon earned his degree in political science at Furman while at the same time becoming a four-year letterman for the Paladins. Dixon wound up serving as the team’s captain in his senior year, earning All-Southern Conference honors and helping the Paladins win the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA national championship.
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After his playing career ended, Dixon stepped into the role as a coach and spent four years as an assistant coach at Camden (S.C.) High School where he helped that team win a South Carolina AAA state championship.
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Furman then helped open the door to the collegiate coaching rreeanks and for 14 seasons Dixon became an integral part of the Paladins staff first as a defensive line coach and for 11 years as the defensive backs coach.
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During his tenure at Furman, Dixon coached three All-Americans and six All-Conference players, was part of three conference championships and four NCAA playoff appearances and in 2001 helped the Paladins finish as the NCAA I-AA national runner-up.
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In 2007, Dixon was named the defensive coordinator at Presbyterian helping that program make the transition to the NCAA Division I FCS level and in 2009 became the defensive coordinator at Savannah State where he took over as that team’s interim head coach in 2010.
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Dixon came to Shorter after serving as the defensive backs coach with Reinhardt’s inaugural team in 2013.
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He is married to the former Tawanda Cooper of Kingstree, S.C., and they have two children, Jailyn and Devin.
