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The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Tindal Dixon Dooley

Garret Dooley (5) and Derrick Tindal (25) have moved on from UW, leaving D'Cota Dixon (14) to help lead not just Wisconsin's defense, but the entire team.

Dixon leading more than just Wisconsin's secondary as Badgers finish spring camp

After losing starting cornerbacks Derrick Tindal and Nick Nelson along with starting safety Natrell Jamerson, senior D’Cota Dixon is the lone returning member of the Badgers’ 2017 defensive backfield. Although he didn’t participate in spring camp, the first team All-Big Ten safety has become a mentor for the younger defensive backs.

“He does an amazing job, being that vocal leader and sharing his experience,” defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Jim Leonhard said. “He went through a lot of transitions in this program — starting at linebacker, going to safety. Mentally, he had to learn and he had to learn in a hurry. He had that [leadership] from veterans in the past so now he’s trying to do that with a very young group.”

Leonhard recognizes three specific things Dixon brings to the Badger defense: his confidence, his energy and his physicality.

“I think everybody around him feeds off of those things,” Leonard said.

There’s no question whoever wins the three starting jobs next to Dixon in UW’s backfield will lack significant experience, but Dixon is someone they can rely on.

“No question we’re going to rely on D’Cota,” head coach Paul Chryst said. “That’s one of his strengths — he is a heck of a leader. Our [whole] team is going to rely on him, not just the secondary.”

Dontye Carriere-Williams, who was used as a third cornerback in 2017, is expected to start in 2018. On the other side of him, redshirt sophomore Caesar Williams and sophomore Madison Cone both received reps with the first team and have impressed teammates and coaches this spring.

“Caesar is definitely a guy who has flashed,” Leonhard said. “He can do things right now that he physically couldn’t in January, which is a credit to him and the work that he’s put in this offseason. He’s one of those guys for sure who’s taken a big jump from a year ago, and he’s going to be in a lot of conversations.”

Dixon wants Cone to unleash another part of his game.

“He’s one of those guys who is very humble,” Dixon said. “He’s got to want to let out the dog in him. To me that’s what you need. You have to be a dog at your position. He has that attitude, that demeanor, that character that he’s going to get the job done, on and off the field, so I trust him. He will be a leader.”

Dixon’s leadership will be pivotal to replacing three defensive backs who helped the Badgers have the best pass efficiency defense in the country. Although there is much speculation about what guys like Carriere-Williams, Cone and Williams can do, Dixon knows this group has a long way to go, and wants less talking and more action.

“The biggest thing [for me] is to try to be an example,” Dixon said. “Words can only do so much, especially when you have a group of guys who are hungry, and I know that because I’ve been there. There has to be a point where guys acknowledge that the talking has to stop. So much talking doesn’t really get us better. You have to internalize what you’re hearing and what you’re doing and then start actually doing it.”

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Although the group is inexperienced, Dixon sees no reason to expect anything less from them.

“A lot of them are younger, but not young,” Dixon said. “I was held to that standard when I was coming in, playing on this defense, so I’m not gonna change it for them.”

Dixon is the unquestionable leader for the defensive backfield, and the team as a whole, but he knows his clock is ticking, and wants the younger players to take more responsibility to help UW in both the short and long-term.

“This is their team,” Dixon said. “This is my last year: I’m a senior, I’ve contributed, but the show goes on. There will be someone else in my jersey when I’m done. I’m trying to let these guys know that it’s [their] team. Taking more ownership, being a professional as far as the classroom, rehab, treatment, whatever it is, none of us are boys.”

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