Husky Roster Review: Thad Dixon's Confidence Is Second to None

Thaddeus Dixon should have felt his nerves spiraling out of control, his adrenaline kicking in. Instead he came skipping onto the field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He was in his hometown, two hours before kickoff, without a care.

The University of Washington cornerback sat down in the end zone, closed his eyes and meditated. He next pulled out his cell phone and called someone from the field. He had news to share. He was not only facing the USC Trojans that day, he was starting against them.

Football hasn't always been fair to Dixon, with his high school recruiting blunted by the COVID pandemic, forcing him to go to Long Beach City College, to the JC level, when he probably deserved to be playing Power 5 football all along. He was once committed to Oregon State, even talking to the Huskies way back then, but it all went away as the global health scare rearranged everything.

The 6-foot-1, 192-pound Dixon is where he belongs now, in his second and final season at Washington, battling for a full-time starting job this spring. Confidence has never been his problem, not before and not now.

"I feel like I'm the best player in the country, honestly," Dixon said during spring practice. "My head is always going to be big so I can always be able to compete at the highest level."

This is one in a series of articles -- going from 0 to 99 on the Husky roster -- examining what each scholarship player and leading walk-on did this past spring and what to expect from them going forward.

Thaddeus Dixon is typically a good-natured guy. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Dixon appeared in 14 games for the national runner-up Huskies, starting in their 52-42 victory over USC and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams because Kalen DeBoer's staff wanted maximum cornerback coverage on the field, putting three out there. He came up with a season-high 6 tackles against the Trojans.

Earlier in games against Michigan State and Jedd Fisch's Arizona, Dixon had a pair of pass break-ups in each. He intercepted a Washington State pass in the Apple Cup. He had another PBU against Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game.

Once the season ended, he didn't flinch when DeBoer left for Alabama and Fisch replaced him. He was thinking more about Trent McDuffie, Kyler Gordon, Kevin King, Sidney Jones and Marcus Peters, guys like that.

"When I came here to Washington, it wasn't for the coaches," he said. "I came here for the pedigree of DBs that came before me. The coaching change was nothing to me. I still wanted to be at Washington."

This spring, Dixon spent half of the 15 practices running with the No. 1 Husky defense, opposite Arizona transfer Ephesians Prysock and in place of returning starter Elijah Jackson, and looked like he belonged.

Thaddeus Dixon started one game in 2023 at corner. | Skylar Lin Visuals

THADDEUS DIXON FILE

What he's done: Dixon did everything asked of him last season by the Huskies, playing in every game except against Arizona State and opening against USC. He was someone DeBoer's staff could count on, rotating him in behind starting corners Jabbar Muhammad and Jackson. He'll battle Jackson for the starting job into fall camp in what should be a heady competition.

Starter or not: USC probably would agree that he can handle a No. 1 secondary job. The Trojans, in fact, made a late bid to recruit Dixon out of Long Beach CC. While Prysock and Jackson are the projected UW cornerback starters, Dixon easily could win a first-team role. Most importantly, he's confident enough to think that will happen.

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