CHANDLER, Ariz. — Hamilton High School is turning to one of their all-time greats. In mid-January, the school hired Travis Dixon to be their new head football coach.
12Sports journalist Cameron Cox caught up with Dixon just a few days into the job, standing in a weight room and locker room that wasn’t even built when he went to school there.
“I think I think we shared the same DNA,” Dixon said talking about his new team. “I love being back here. I was once in those shoes, and hopefully one day, we inspire these kids enough to where they can come back and be in the position as I am and coach at their alma mater.”
Dixon returns to the program he helped win its’ first two state championships in 2003 and 2004. He was a quarterback for the Huskies, playing under the program's first head coach John Wrenn. The 37-year-old is just the fourth head coach in school history, and was a member of our Friday Night Fever All-Fever Team back in the early 2000s.
“I remember them (those days). Obviously a long time ago. (I’m) trying to bring the old to the new, and for these young men to have their own on state championships more so than anything.”
And he said being coach just feels like home.
“It’s a place that I call home, and it’s a home for my wife. She went to high school here… As I was doing the college coaching for a while, (I kept thinking) if I was going to be in high school rankings and coaching there, I wanted to be rooted in Arizona and raise my family here. Hamilton was definitely the place I wanted to end up at.”
Dixon returns home with one year of head coaching experience. Last season, he led Eastmark High School in Mesa to a 9-3 record and a trip to the 4A quarterfinals.
Hamilton has won seven state championships, the last coming in 2012. Dixon takes over for Mike Zdebski, who stepped down in December after leading the Huskies for six seasons and five-straight Open Division playoff appearances.
“I think the previous coaching staff and Coach Z has done a great job. They are a championship team. A team that’s been in the playoffs every year. I think for us it's just finding a way to get over that hump. We talked about championship habits. We’re always going fall back on our training."
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