The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1310365
DECEMBER 2020 THE WOLVERINE 55 FOOTBALL RECRUITING he admitted. "You guys thought I was going to Oregon or LSU, but I wasn't. Go Blue." By the way, Dixon's Twitter name is THE INSPIRATION. Yes, it's in all caps, and its meaning isn't exactly clear. Maybe Davies and Wright had a point — Dixon is just different. But that's how his mother raised him. Christian, who named her son af- ter herself but spelled it without the 'H' for phonetic purposes, always wanted Dixon to grow into a bit of a modern-day Renaissance man. "I've always felt it's important in life to diversify," he said. "In everything we've done in life, I've tried to put him around different people in all dif- ferent aspects. It's about understand- ing different cultures. The world is a big place. I tried to feed that into him, and he's, well, developed himself." Christian isn't your average mother, either. An accountant by day, Chris- tian turns into a workout monster at night. Well, actually, in the early morning. Christian hits the squat rack, does bench press reps and makes sure Cristian is improving his flexibility by going through yoga. "Since we've been quarantined, it's been easier," she said. "When he was younger, I worked out with him. We used to run routes. I was the first DB to guard him in practice. He got faster, so I stopped doing that. But I just try to stay fit and stay in shape. Being healthy is the solution to long life. "We get in the gym and talk mess to each other. If I complain, he says 'that's weak.' If he complains, I call him soft. We squat and do bench. But he does those VertiMax [exercises], and I'm a little too old. I don't do all that jumping. We've done yoga together for a while. We do the Jugs machine. I can throw the ball 20 or 30 yards — okay, maybe 30 is a stretch." Cristian doesn't seem to mind get- ting that extra push from mom. "It's cool," he said. "My mom knows what she's talking about more than most moms. She's my manager. To get to me, you have to go through her. That was the key in my recruitment." Dixon committed to Michigan over offers from Auburn, California, LSU, Miami, Oregon, Texas A&M, USC, Utah and several other major pro- grams in late June. While he had options closer to home, Dixon wanted to spread his wings and be different — just like he always has been. Christian admits that it took her a while to get used to the idea of her son going to school so far away from Los Angeles. But at the end of the day, Jim Har- baugh and the Michigan coaching staff were able to win her over. When she gave the green light, Cristian pulled the trigger. "I'm a Harbaugh fan," Christian said. "He wants a family environ- ment. I do too, but I'm a 'suck it up and go play ball' type of person. But [Cristian] wants that. It fit. Every time I talked to Harbaugh, it's not just football. It's about how we're doing, [Cristian's] goals, how we can help, and that was great. "[Offensive coordinator Josh] Gat- tis was awesome and really got to know him, too." So why Michigan? "It fit," Christian said. "I don't know the sport from playing it. I know it from a spectator's view. Every morning I would get up, and I would read every recommendation for parents with re- cruiting. I would read about training, coaches and diet for an hour or two. "Everything always said, look for what fits best for you. There is no so- lution for one person that's going to work for everyone else. With Michi- gan, we looked at the depth chart and the players there. It fit. He's coming to take over. They're ripe and ready, and I feel like he's going to bring those championships back home." Dixon started playing football when he was 6 years old. His mother actually wanted him to go the base- ball route, but he fell in love with football after a couple of years in the Pop Warner ranks. It was only his first year that was tough. After all, he spent most of his time as an offensive lineman. "It was horrible," Cristian remem- bered with a laugh. Dixon eventually played wide re- ceiver and defensive back, and stuck at those positions. Utah actually of- fered him as an athlete with a prefer- ence for him to play on the defensive side of the ball. "I don't really like tackling if we're being honest," Dixon said. "I'd rather avoid the tackler than be the tackler. But to this day, I feel like I could be the No. 1 DB in the country in my class." Dixon began to really hone in on being a wide receiver in the eighth grade and had a breakout sophomore campaign in high school, notching 42 receptions for 862 yards and nine touchdowns at Pomona (Calif.) Dia- mond Ranch. Eager to prove himself even more, he transferred to national powerhouse Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, where he caught 35 passes for 611 yards and six touchdowns as a junior. With football postponed in California this year, Dixon spent some of his summer working out in Houston with elite trainer Ro Simon and star Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. Maybe he should change his Twitter Dixon has many interests outside of football and is an artist who has done self-portraits (above), designed logos and started a life- style clothing brand, Trench Activist. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND Dixon on his lifestyle clothing brand, Trench Activist "The brand is based off someone that uses their hardships, failures in life and trials and tribulations to prevail. That's the backstory behind it. Nothing in life is easy. I learned that at a young age. You have to take some losses to come up with a big W."