Not many can go from being an HBCU football player to being on an NFL coaching staff of a Super Bowl contending team, but this is reality for Kerry Dixon, as he is a part of the NFL’s first all-Black quarterback unit, including both players and coaches.
Kerry Dixon is the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens, who are No. 1 in the AFC North Division, where he works alongside quarterback coach Tee Martin and helps coach one of the most prolific quarterback talents in NFL history, Lamar Jackson, and backup quarterbacks Tyler Huntley and Josh Johnson. But his love of football and even the position didn’t start with coaching, but with playing.
Dixon grew up in Houston, where he played football at Booker T. Washington High School, earning All-Greater Houston Area honors in his senior year. Dixon told Andscape that his high school had a “family atmosphere” and was “real communitylike.”
While growing up, Dixon attended numerous Southern University football games with his father, which led him to fall in love with the culture at historically Black colleges and universities. Though Southern was his dream school, his desire to go to a Power 5 school and play quarterback led Dixon to stay in his home state and attend Baylor University.
After a couple of seasons at Baylor, where he was injured, Dixon decided it was time for him to look for a different school.
Dixon learned about Hampton University while talking to his home pastor’s son, who is an alumnus. He told Dixon about his experiences at the university and its familylike climate, which convinced Dixon it was best for him to go to an HBCU and showcase his talents.
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“The full school felt like a community, from Ms. Martha in the cafeteria to Ms. Bertha in HR,” he said. “It felt like you could talk to anyone, and they would corral you just as if you were their son … I felt like I was being groomed by the entire university, not just the coaching staff.”
Dixon discovered that he wanted to begin coaching while at Hampton. The team was having a weekly meeting on its Character Building Wednesday when coach Joe Taylor began lecturing the team on things that can and cannot be controlled.
“As he was having this conversation, that’s one of the first times in my life I really felt like somebody was speaking life into me and I said that on that day I wanted to do what he was doing for me and what better way to do that then to coach the sport I love,” Dixon said. “If he’s [Taylor] having that type of impact on me, I can have that type of impact on somebody else.”
Though Dixon wasn’t the immediate starter for the Pirates, Taylor said he recognized he had the qualities of a true leader early on.
“He was going to be the first guy in the building and really the last guy to leave … because of his understanding of the game, he would often tutor the younger guys,” Taylor said. “He was first up to our meetings. He was always sitting up front.”
These early leadership qualities continued to develop in Dixon even after his time at Hampton, which led to multiple jobs as a position coach, including at his former high school and other colleges.
Dixon started coaching at Booker T. Washington and then went on to coach at Morgan State in 2007. His coaching past includes other HBCUs such as Texas Southern, and such Power 5 schools as Georgia Tech and the University of Florida. Dixon has coached players who would go on to perform at the game’s highest level.
While at the University of Florida, Dixon was wide receivers coach. His receivers broke school records and were drafted into the NFL. At least one went on to become a Super Bowl winner, Demarcus Robinson with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019.
Dixon tried to instill the same core values that were impressed upon him while at Hampton. His coaching and life expertise has had a lasting effect on his past players, who still carry his messages and advice in their pro careers.
“He always tried to keep us learning more than we needed to learn, so he was a good coach,” said Robinson, who was a receiver for Baltimore in 2022. “Just try and get in as early as possible, no matter what you’re doing. Waking up early, trying to be first in line to do it.”
