Few places in the continental United States could be more different from Tucson than Gaffney, South Carolina. For Sabino High alum Drew Dixon, however, the city of about 13,000 located near the North Carolina border has made for a welcoming home.
On Aug. 31, Dixon begins his second season at wide receiver for Limestone University, an NCAA Division II program in Gaffney. Dixon caught 28 passes for 592 yards and five touchdowns in six games a season ago, playing an instrumental role in Limestone reaching the NCAA D-II Playoffs for the first time.
Limestone University wideout Drew Dixon, a Sabino High School alumnus who started his college football career at Arizona before transferring to NCAA Division II Limestone, heads upfield during the first round of the 2022 NCAA D-II playoffs at Pen Air Field on Nov. 19, 2022 in Pensacola, Florida.
“Seeing what we did last year … people [on the Limestone roster] know our potential,” Dixon said. “Now everybody’s trying to level up.”
The Saints kick off a 2023 campaign in which they look to contend for the South Atlantic Conference championship by visiting West Georgia, a perennial contender in the strong Gulf South Conference.
In a showdown of two of the most prolific passing offenses in the nation — West Georgia ranked No. 3 in D-II a season ago at 321.3 yards per game, Limestone at No. 19 with 266.4 — Dixon should see plenty of opportunities to make big plays.
Drew Dixon runs a route for Limestone on Nov. 5, 2022 in Gaffney, South Carolina.
And opportunities are what Dixon’s presence at Limestone is all about.
“The definition of a Division II football football player [is] kids who weren’t recruited and [were told] they weren’t good enough, so they had to build their way up,” Limestone coach Mike Furrey said. “And kids who went to a bigger school, [were told] they weren’t good enough, so they come down and get a chance to prove themselves.”
Dixon fits the latter description. A 3-star prospect at Sabino, Dixon’s 27 touchdowns and more than 2,000 total yards led the Sabercats to a 12-2 mark and in 2016. Sabino reached the 3A state title game that season.
He officially played quarterback. However, he filled just about every role short of selling popcorn at the concession stand for SHS.
Jay Campos, the former Sabrecats coach and current assistant principal at Mica Mountain High School, was first introduced to Dixon when Dixon was an elementary school-aged participating at Campos’ summer camps.
Campos saw Dixon develop into a prep standout who on offense could pretty much do it all.
Sabino's head coach Jay Campos hugs Drew Dixon (1) after the Sabercats 48-0 win over Winslow in their 3A state playoff game at Sabino High School, Saturday, November 12, 2016, Tucson, Ariz. Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
“He was always head-and-shoulders taller than everybody, but also more athletic than most of the kids in his age group,” Campos said. “As he got into high school, he could play so many different positions given his body type, whether it be quarterback, whether it be receiver; I even used him at tailback his senior year, because we were so banged up.”
At 6-4 and showing a diverse repertoire, the local product opted to stay home. Dixon committed to play college football at Arizona before the 2017 season, the last year of Rich Rodriguez’s tenure as head coach.
After transitioning to receiver and spending a redshirt season with Rodriguez’s staff, Dixon appeared sparingly in the first campaign of the abbreviated Kevin Sumlin era.
Wide receiver Drew Dixon (1) lets out a yell after his receiving touchdown in the second quarter of Arizona's Sept. 7, 2019 matchup with NAU at Arizona Stadium.
Fourteen catches and a pair of touchdowns in 2019 suggested the Sabino graduate may be ready to continue lighting it up in Tucson, but sparing usage in the truncated COVID season prompted questions that Limestone’s Furrey spelled out.
“Why isn’t he on the field? Where’s the opportunity? Where’s his chance,” Furrey said. “He had a chance to play, but did he really get a chance to start? Did he get a chance to become a focal point of the offense?”
Former Arizona receiver Drew Dixon is now attending Limestone University in South Carolina.
Furrey is a big believer in opportunity. He began his college playing career as a walk-on at Ohio State and worked his way into the Buckeyes rotation in 1995, but it wasn’t until he transferred to Northern Iowa that Furrey was afforded the stage to truly showcase his potential.
He set a variety of program receiving records, including 27 touchdown catches, on the way to a lengthy pro career that included 94 games over seven NFL seasons.
Dixon, who had put his name into the transfer portal following the 2020 campaign, jumped out to Furrey as he was assembling a roster in a return to Limestone. Furrey coached the Saints from 2016 through 2017 before spending four seasons as an assistant with the Chicago Bears.
“[Dixon’s] character checked out, the work ethic checked out…everything checked out,” Furrey said. “The only thing that didn’t check out was the opportunity.”
The promise Furrey saw in Dixon was reciprocated on the player’s end.
“It was Mike Furrey,” Dixon said of what drew him to Limestone. “Coach Furrey reached out to me while I was in the transfer portal and I was able to come out here on a visit and talk to coach Cotchery and coach Furrey.”
Sabino's Drew Dixon (1) manages to dive into the end zone after his catch and run against Winslow at Sabino High School, Saturday, November 12, 2016, Tucson, Ariz. Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Coach Cotchery refers to Jerricho Cotchery, another longtime NFL alum now tasked with overseeing wide receivers at Limestone.
Between Furrey and Cotchery, the Saints coaching staff boasts nearly two decades combined of NFL receiving experience. Dixon praised the perspective each brings in their current roles as being central to Dixon knowing Limestone “is where I’m supposed to be.”
And Limestone is better for having the Tucson influence.
Dixon’s experience as a quarterback carries over onto the field, giving the Saints a unique point of view in executing the Mike Martz-inspired offense.
“He understands what I’m looking [behind center] at as well as what he’s looking at [at receivers],” Limestone quarterback and Rock Hill, South Carolina, native Dustin Noller said of Dixon.
Noller’s late-season play helped power the Saints to a four-game winning streak and sealed a playoff berth, and Dixon emerged as the top target over that stretch.
Sabino's Drew Dixon (1) breaks downfield for extra yardage as Queen Creek American Leadership Academy's Jakob Redford (40) gives chase during the second half of the 2016 Arizona 3A state high school championship game between Sabino and ALA. ALA defeated the Sabercats, 31-14.
The duo connected for 195 yards and a touchdown against Catawba, 103 yards and a touchdown in a signature win over No. 12-ranked and reigning SAC champion Newberry, and 167 yards with a score in the season finale vs. Emory & Henry.
Noller touted Dixon for “getting on one page, knowing what we’re doing vs. every single [defensive] look we’re going to see throughout the year, and then even helping the other receivers get on the same page, too.”
Riding the momentum of last season’s strong finish, Dixon and Noller are poised to be one of the nation’s most productive pass-attack combinations in 2023.
“It shows his true love of the game,” Campos said of Dixon’s emergence at Limestone. “Going from a Pac-12 school to a Div. II school takes a lot of effort.
“A lot of people would have given up, and he didn’t.”
Indeed, not everyone would be able to navigate the unlikely road from Tucson to Gaffney. For Dixon, though, it’s a journey he’s happy to have made.
“I’ve got a family here in South Carolina,” he said.
VIDEO: Former Sabino High School Standout and Arizona receiver Drew Dixon, now with Limestone University in South Carolina, was one of four Saints players to earn D2CAA "All-Super Region Two Team" honors after his 2022 season.
