“A Gamecock through and through”: King Dixon, former USC football star and AD, dies | south carolina

COLUMBIA He was a legendary player and a polarizing athletics director.

All of this made King Dixon a Gamecock in South Carolina.

One of many athletic directors with whom I had the privilege of working at (USC), King Dixon was a Gamecock through and through, former USC sports information director and current President of Darlington Raceway Kerry Tharp tweeted Tuesday. Thoughts and prayers for the Dixon family.

Dixon died Monday evening after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 83.

He had returned to his alma mater in a temporary role this year and was a member of the Board of Trustees at the seat of AC Bubba Fennell, who died in December. It was Dixon’s last position at USC, after a great career on the football field from 1956-58 and as AD from 1988-92.

An all-conference halfback under coach Warren Giese, Dixon co-captained the team from 1958 with fellow USC legend Alex Hawkins and Dwight Keith. The Gamecocks finished 7-3 and were 15^th in the country.

His record of kicking off a touchdown in back-to-back games wasn’t matched until 2017, when Deebo Samuel did.

Dixon graduated from the USC in 1959 and joined the US Marine Corps, serving 22 years and facing combat in Vietnam. He earned a Bronze Star and two other medals for heroism during his service, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.

He was on the faculty of USC after leaving the military and was elevated from Assistant Vice President of Alumni Affairs to Athletics Director in 1988. help repair the damage.

Dixon’s tenure was unforgettable. One of his biggest decisions, that USC accepts an invitation to join the SEC, still looms as one of the best in the school’s athletic history. Other decisions have not been praised so much.

A steroid scandal flooded the program after former player Tommy Chaikin helped write an all-telling piece in Sports Illustrated. He portrayed the Gamecocks as a team that got out of hand and was encouraged to use steroids, all with the blessing of coach Joe Morrison.

Dixon implemented a strict drug testing policy and was forced to consider firing Morrison, who had taken the Gamecocks to their then highest heights. It is often said since Morrisons’ sudden death in February 1989 should have spared Dixon the decision.

Dixon hired Sparky Woods as a coach just before National Signing Day, a move that would float above his tenure. Woods, from the state of Appalachian, recorded winning records in his first two seasons, but ended with three consecutive losing seasons, then was fired in favor of Brad Scott.

During the Woods era, the Gamecocks resolutely separated from the renegade image of Morrisons teams, with garnet as the main color instead of black and the team slogans of Black Death and Black Magic away. In 1990, USC qualified for a bowl game with a 6-5 record, but Dixon declined the invitation, emphasizing that the team should focus on its academics.

That was always my number 1 goal to be the first QB to win a bowl game for USC, quarterback Bobby Fuller once told this reporter. King was a great guy, but it was such a mess with the steroid stuff. They tried to clear the picture.

In 1991, for reasons he had never specified then or after, Dixon fired basketball coach George Felton. Felton, an alum who played for legendary coach Frank McGuire, reached the NCAA tournament in 1989, the program’s first berth in 15 years.

But after hitting a record 87-62 in five years and an NIT season of 20 wins in 1990-91, Felton was canned. Felton heard from his morning paper that he was about to be asked to leave hours before a scheduled meeting with Dixon.

Dixon only cited the cumulative weight of many unnamed and isolated incidents as a reason to terminate the contract. Felton was followed by the disastrous two-year tenure of Steve Newton, who hired Dixon from the state of Murray.

Still, Dixon helped avoid major sanctions from the NCAA as a result of the football scandal, then decided what gave him its lasting impact. On September 25, 1990, USC agreed to join the SEC.

Joining a family conference like the SEC is one of the biggest things that could have happened to South Carolina, Dixon said at the time. My job was to join the conference to generate an income stream at the time to help protect all other sports.

Dixon was replaced in 1993 by the late Mike McGee, who stayed for 12 years. He moved back to his hometown of Laurens, where he worked in banking.

Dixon is survived by his wife, Augusta.

Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.