Dixon excited to get back in the game

After taking a year off from football, Zion Dixon is back to the sport he loves, getting ready to play again this fall — albeit in a new location.

Dixon, an offensive lineman who graduated from Lake City High in 2015, then played two seasons at the University of Idaho, is headed to Idaho State, where he will be a grad transfer with two seasons of eligibility remaining.

“I missed it,” Dixon said. “I just missed competing at that high level. Football is a sport that I loved. As long as I still had eligibility left, I wanted to be able to use up that eligibility, and get as far with my football as I could. Obviously, NFL would be the end goal, but we’ll just see what happens.”

FOUR YEARS ago, Dixon accepted a scholarship offer from Idaho, picking the Vandals over preferred walk-on offers from Boise State and Oregon, and from the University of San Diego, which also offered a full ride.

He redshirted his first season in Moscow, then was a part-time starter the next two seasons, primarily at quick guard.

“It was a good experience,” Dixon said of his time with the Vandals. “My teammates were awesome ... lifelong friends on that team. Obviously, going to the Potato Bowl my redshirt freshman year, and being a part of that team, and being able to help that team have one of the most successful seasons in program history is something I’m super proud of. It was just an awesome experience.”

But before the 2018 season, citing personal reasons “that prevented me from competing at the Division I level,” Dixon left the Idaho football team. He remained in school there, and in May graduated in four years with a degree in exercise science and health. He’s pursuing a master’s in occupational therapy — something offered by Idaho State, but not by Idaho.

Dixon continued to work out last fall, slimming down from 315 pounds — his playing weight at Idaho — to 280.

“Once December, January rolled around and I decided I wanted to play again, I got serious about it, and got a trainer in Spokane,” he said. “I started getting back into position-specific training — technique stuff, cardio, strength training, speed, agility, power, eating right again. I got myself back up to 300, which I think is a good weight for me.”

LAST WINTER, Dixon decided to enter his name in the NCAA transfer portal. He put together a highlight film, and sent that to schools.

Gunnar Amos, the former Coeur d’Alene High quarterback who began his career at Idaho before transferring to Idaho State, where he is now a senior, helped his former Vandal teammate Dixon get in contact with ISU coaches.

He met with them in February, when they were up in Coeur d’Alene for a coaching clinic.

“They were kinda worried about my physique, after a year off,” Dixon said. “Luckily, that wasn’t the case.”

Dixon, who also chatted briefly with Rutgers, as well as some Division II schools, accepted a scholarship offer from the Bengals, and got into the grad program there.

And he was able to get the rule waived that limits college athletes to five seasons to play four. He will have six to play four.

“I had to get documentation from doctors, to the compliance coordinator at Idaho State, and he sent it off to the NCAA and the Big Sky, and it got cleared,” Dixon said.

DIXON WAS able to watch spring practice when he took his visit to ISU in the spring. He figures to play somewhere on the interior line for the Bengals, 6-5 last season.

“I played some center when we (the Vandals) played at Missouri, so they have film of me playing center,” Dixon said. “Wherever they need me on the interior line is where I’ll play.”

He plans to head down soon to Pocatello, and train with the team before fall camp begins in August.

Dixon said it is a similar excitement to when he was beginning his college football career at Idaho.

“I’m excited to be able to go down and compete again,” he said. “I think Idaho State is a rising program in the Big Sky. I’m excited to see what we can do.”

Dixon will get the chance to play against his old teammates this year. Idaho plays host to Idaho State on Oct. 19 at the Kibbie Dome. Last year, ISU clobbered the Vandals 62-28 in Pocatello.

“I’m excited for it,” he said. “I’m competing against the D-line that I’m friends with, and practiced against every single day, and now I’m going to play against ’em.

“When I see ’em on campus (in Moscow), I joke around with them about taking it easy during the game.”

Dixon said he’s put back on some 20 pounds, and hopes to play at 300 or 305 pounds.

“After training in Spokane, I’m the strongest I’ve ever been, fastest I’ve ever been,” he said. “That’s what I’m also excited to see — how well I can compete physically in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I just move much better than I did at Idaho.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.