Tag: Flip Dixon

Former college quarterback Drew Lascari brings a unique perspective as Rutgers football’s safeties coach

Drew Lascari sees his safeties through the eyes of the quarterback.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Lessons learned as a former quarterback now guide Drew Lascari on the defensive side of the ball. Lascari, set to enter his third season as the safeties coach at Rutgers, has a unique perspective that he brings to his position.

It is a perspective formed from years of seeing the safety as the enemy. And now at Rutgers, Lascari’s time as a high school and college quarterback is paying dividends for his position group.

Lascari has been at Rutgers since 2018 where he started as special teams quality control. In 2019, he was elevated to quarterbacks coach following the in-season dismissal of then-head coach Chris Ash and the subsequent shakeup of the team’s coaching staff.

But since the return of head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag] in 2020, Lascari has been on the defensive side of the ball. First, he spent two years as a defensive assistant and now is in his third season as the safeties coach.

“What’s wild now is this is going to be my fifth season now on the defensive side of the ball. It feels like it just happened yesterday,” Lascari said on Thursday.

“But I think for me, there was certainly some a bit of a learning curve for me initially, just because I spent most of my career on the other side of the ball up to that point. But I do think that my background on offense does give me a unique opportunity to see things a little bit differently, to teach things a little bit differently. And I’m grateful for my experience on offense because I think it does make me a much better DB coach.”

Lascari was a former standout in Morris County at Pequannock High School (Pompton Plains, New Jersey) who went on to play his college football at SUNY Cortland. He coached in high school in New Jersey and Florida at the start of his career before joining Ash’s staff in 2018.

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It is an unconventional coaching path for Lascari, who started his college career on special teams at Rutgers before settling in on the offensive side of the ball in 2018 (eight games as the quarterbacks coach).

Now, the former college quarterback is coaching safeties.

“He teaches us a lot about offensive terminology, run scheme and stuff,” Flip Dixon said on Thursday.

“It’s very helpful.”

Veterans like Flip Dixon believe that the Rutgers football defense can be even better this year

The Rutgers football defense, good last year, can be even better.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — With most of their starters returning, the Rutgers football defense has the potential to take another step forward as a unit. One of those returning pieces is safety Flip Dixon, who had a strong first season with Rutgers in 2023.

An addition out of the transfer portal, Dixon had 76 total tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and five passes defended last year for Rutgers.

With a number of big pieces opting to return, the Rutgers defense is arguably the most experienced in the Big Ten. They were seventh in the Big Ten in scoring defense and sixth in yards allowed per game.

For Dixon, there is a belief that the unit can take a step forward in 2024 and be even better.

“I’m very excited. We got a lot of people coming back. Basically, the whole defense just about – so I’m very excited to see what we can do,” Dixon said on Thursday following practice.

“I know we will do better than last year, for sure.”

One of the pieces not returning for Rutgers is Max Melton.

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The defensive back, who had one year of eligibility remaining, opted to declare for the NFL draft. An All-Big Ten selection, Melton is appearing in mock drafts in the top half of the NFL draft and is popular as a second-round pick.

The loss of Melton will hurt the secondary, given that he was an elite cornerback in the Big Ten.

“I love Max. He’s a great player, phenomenal,” Dixon said.

“You know, he, he’d been here for well, he helped me get used to it here. And it was a great time with him.”

No group is more experienced than the safeties room, with Dixon and Des Igbinosun both returning as starters. For safeties coach Drew Lascari, this is quite the luxury to have.

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The safeties will be relied on this upcoming season for Rutgers as a foundational unit. With two players who are All-Big Ten caliber (Dixon was an All-Big Ten selection last season), this Rutgers defense has the potential to be a top-tier unit in the Big Ten.

“I think for us, the expectation of our room now is to take the next step and what is the next step?” Lascari said on Thursday.

“Well, that’s the next step with everything. Okay, we want to take the next step with our nutrition, with our rehab, with our recovery, with our sleep. And then on the field, our playbook.

“So, with two returning starters that we have a lot of faith in. We’re really excited about the next steps that we’re going to take as a group.”

Flip Dixon on his return to Rutgers football: ‘We left a lot on the bone as a defense’

Flip Dixon is ready to return for a final season of college football with Rutgers.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Flip Dixon made the decision to return to Rutgers for a final year of college football. Coming off what was easily the best season of his collegiate career, Dixon’s decision could and should help his NFL draft stock down the road.

His 70 total tackles this fall was a career-high. In fact, it was more than the safety’s total tackles during his first three seasons of college football – combined.

Dixon also had four passes defended, a fumble and an interception in his first season at Rutgers.

He joined the program last January out of the transfer portal. And he quickly integrated himself into a talented defense, one that he thinks can take a significant step forward.

“We left a lot on the bone as a defense, as a team,” Dixon told Rutgers Wire.

“We got a lot of guys coming back – like I said, we’re getting the band back together. So that was important for me.”

For Dixon on a personal level, though, the return makes sense. Getting a second year of good film would be big for his NFL draft stock. In fact, a season of production like 2023 (or better) could place Dixon as a Day 3 selection.

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He said that being in the system and returning was something he saw as important so he could be ready to take the next step from Rutgers to the NFL.

“You know, when you see different stuff and get cumulative reps, you get to see the bigger picture of it and it makes you play faster,” Dixon said.

“It was – this season was my first first time as a full-time starter. So I feel like I grew a lot. I learned a lot. learn a lot by myself about seeing a different offense – I learned a lot.”

Dixon was named fourth-team All-Big Ten by Phil Steele. He was one of 10 players on Rutgers who was eligible to return for another season of college football and chose to do so.

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Only defensive back Max Melton did not return.

Keeping it stable: Flip Dixon will return for one more year at Rutgers

Flip Dixon returns for Rutgers football.

Rutgers football retained an important piece on Sunday with the news that Flip Dixon is returning for one more season.

A safety, Dixon’s return is big for a Rutgers secondary that was very strong this past season. He posted a career-high 70 tackles along with an interception, a forced fumble and four passes defended.

Dixon joined Rutgers out of the transfer portal and quickly became an integral part of the defense. He showed a tough, determined physical side in the defense but also a seamless fit in his ability to space and playmake in the back end.

His return marks yet another key contributor to the defense returning for the 2024 season.

 

Already, defensive linemen Aaron Lewis and Wesley Bailey along with linebackers Tyreem Powell and Mo Toure. From the group eligible to return, only defensive back Max Melton opted for the NFL draft (and that was with head coach Greg Schiano’s urging to go to the next level).

On the offensive side of the ball, left tackle Hollin Pierce, running back Kyle Monangai and wide receiver Christian Dremel are also returning.

Flip Dixon has been a revelation for Rutgers football, head coach Greg Schiano

Rutgers football has gotten some big performances from safety Flip Dixon this season.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Flip Dixon has stepped into the Rutgers defense in a major way, putting together a strong first season in New Jersey. His path to Rutgers may have been unconventional, but he is certainly making an impression as the Scarlet Knights head into a grueling stretch of Big Ten play.

A December addition in the transfer portal, Dixon was a solid contributor at Minnesota the past three seasons. In 2022, he posted 28 tackles and three passes defended, both career-highs. 

This season, he has already surpassed those numbers from a year ago. Dixon already has 36 tackles and three passes defended as well as an interception.

On Saturday in a loss at Wisconsin in Big Ten play, Dixon had five total tackles (four solo).

“Flip is a great addition to our defense, to our secondary,” head coach Greg Schiano said after practice on Wednesday.

“Smart, tough, dependable player – really fit right in from the jump. And it was great, fortunately, coach Harasymiak had a relationship. So that’s probably why…the only reason he’s here. He’s from Georgia. He was at Minnesota and now he’s in New Jersey. So we’re very fortunate to have him.”

In 2020, Dixon played in two games at Minnesota as a redshirt freshman. Then he played in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which means that season will not count against his eligibility.

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That means that Dixon will have two years of eligibility left after this season if he wants to continue pursuing college football.

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On Saturday, Rutgers will continue their Big Ten schedule when they host Michigan State in a noon kickoff at SHI Stadium.

Flip’n Ridiculous: Rutgers football safety Flip Dixon makes a SportsCenter Top 10 interception

Rutgers football safety Flip Dixon makes a tremendous interception catch.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Flip Dixon has been nothing short of sensational for Rutgers football this season since joining out of the transfer portal. The latest evidence of this is an interception in the second quarter as Rutgers battled Virginia Tech.

The diving interception was tremendous body control to get the ball and stay in bounds. It is one of the top plays in college football in what has been a wild and exciting weekend.

Dixon, a transfer portal addition out of Minnesota, had four tackles to go along with his interception. He came into Week 3 with 14 total tackles (five solo) and two passes defended. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano has praised Dixon for his impact in his first season with the Scarlet Knights.

He had 28 total tackles last year for Minnesota.

Rutgers made the SportsCenter Top 10 in Week 1 for Ian Strong’s acrobatic touchdown catch in the back of the end zone. Dixon is certainly a candidate to make the top 10 list again this week with this turnover:

 

For Dixon, it was his second-career interception.

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Rutgers went into halftime up 21-3 over Virginia Tech.

Greg Schiano likes his secondary and new addition Flip Dixon

Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano sees strength in his defense.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — One of the assumed strengths of the Rutgers football team this season is their secondary. The expectation is that this group has the right mix of returning players, incoming veterans and young players for the long grind that is the Big Ten season.

The secondary, which showed flashes last year, might be the deepest unit on the roster.

This can especially be the case provided that the safety additions in the transfer portal ([autotag]Flip Dixon[/autotag] and [autotag]Eric Rogers[/autotag]) pan out. Rogers, who played last year at Northern Illinois, has proven he has the potential to play at the Power Five level.

Dixon, coming from Minnesota, has shown that throughout his career.

“Flip Dixon has really shown me that he’s a Big Ten safety. And you know our deal is we’re a five defensive back scheme as long as people are playing with sub personnel three wideouts…four wideouts.You can call it a 4-2-5, whatever you want to call it. I just call it five defensive backs on the field,” Schiano said on Thursday.

“And so that’s the trick – finding the right mix of the best five and then having the subs to come in and outside corners. Inside nickels, inside stars. There’s different jobs that go along with that. So but coach Harasymiak (defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak) – he does a really good job of personnel and things. Very impressed (with) the way they do that and Drew Lascari who coaches our safeties, he’s doing a really good job because those guys are kind of they move up and back.

“And coach Orphey (cornerbacks coach Mark Orphey) is a pro coaching those corners. So we have talent in the secondary and I think we have really, really fine coaching so we have a chance that could be a part of our strength but I think really I like all three levels of our defense. We just got to get reps and get precise in what we’re doing and then just play as hard as we can. And that’s what I expect from them,”

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Last season, Rutgers was eighth in the Big Ten allowing 349.8 yards per game. With the returning talent on the roster, there is every reason to believe that the Scarlet Knights have the personnel to be a top-half of the conference defense in 2023.

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Rutgers football head coach Greg Schiano believes Eric Rogers, Flip Dixon will boost the defense

Greg Schiano sees two transfer portal additions as helping his defense.

Rutgers football has certainly seen both its quality and overall depth improve on the defensive side of the ball over the past three years. The secondary, in particular, is an area that head coach Greg Schiano is particularly pleased to see the overarching growth and development.

Headlined by returning players such as cornerbacks[autotag] Robert Longerbeam[/autotag] and [autotag]Max Melton[/autotag], the secondary might be the strongest unit on the entire Rutgers roster. But for Schiano, the additions on the backend also include two players brought in from the transfer portal.

These additions, Schiano said, help balance the secondary and bring some veteran experience. In an interview with NBC Sports Chicago, Schiano outlined his secondary, including the importance of adding Rogers and Dixon to the group.

“I think we got a good group with Melton and Longerbeam back at the corners. But we added a guy Eric Rogers, who came over from Northern Illinois, I think he’s going to be a great, great addition,” Schiano told NBC Sports Chicago.

“You mentioned Flip Dixon and you know, he’s a guy that I I think is a Big Ten safety. That’s what he is, and he’s going to be a great, great player for us coming in from the University of Minnesota. So I like our secondary I think we have some experience mixed with some real fine young players. And again, I think at all three levels of the defense, we have some depth, which is critical. It’s a tough league. It’s a league of big men, people get hurt. So to have a little depth is certainly helpful.”

The addition of Dixon to the roster was an under-the-radar part of the Rutgers offseason, but with 30 games of Big Ten experience (and six starts), Dixon can certainly add something to the Rutgers unit.

Last season at Minnesota, he posted 28 tackles and three passes defended, both career-highs. 

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They call him Flip: Rutgers football excited about the early returns from safety Flip Dixon

In his first spring with Rutgers football, Flip Dixon is standing out in the Rutgers football defense.

One of the new additions to the Rutgers football secondary, Flip Dixon, is proving himself this spring with a blend of experience and power that is certainly encouraging to the coaching staff.

Dixon committed to Rutgers out of the transfer portal, joining the program in time for spring practice. Across three seasons, he played 30 games for Minnesota where he had six starts.

Last year, he had 28 tackles and three passes defended.

Poised for a bigger role in the Minnesota defense, Dixon decided to join Joe Harasymiak at Rutgers. Harasymiak was at Minnesota as their defensive coordinator prior to taking over the Rutgers defense last season.

“Flip, for one, brings a lot of Big Ten experience. It is so important to understand that he has played a lot of Big Ten football and with that, you learn a lot every single snap in this league,” safeties coach Drew Lascari told reporters on Thursday following practice.

“In terms of his physicality, it has been something that is exciting for us to see. He certainly loves to play physically, he knows our scheme really, really well so that allows him to play fast. Really excited about the direction that Flip is going.”

The emergence of Dixon this spring is encouraging for Rutgers, especially after some pretty steep offseason losses including Christian Izien heading for the NFL draft.

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Dixon has experience in the same base defense that Rutgers uses, which isn’t a surprise given that Harasymiak was his coordinator at Minnesota and now at Rutgers. And with Rutgers very often playing three safeties, a role for Dixon is very much there.

On Saturday, Dixon talked about his unusual nickname. Turns out it has nothing to do with backflips.

(He can’t do one anyway, so that’s good).

“It came from my uncle man when I got it when I was a baby when I came from the hospital,” Dixon said before being asked why he got the nickname.

“My feet they was like long like flippers.”

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Rutgers football: So, how did Flip Dixon get his nickname?

Rutgers football defensive back Michael ‘Flip’ Dixon talks about his nickname, settling in with the Scarlet Knights.

Michael ‘Flip’ Dixon is a big transfer portal addition to the Rutgers football backend. Turns out that he has always put his best foot forward…literally and figuratively.

In his first spring with Rutgers, Dixon is settling into a deep and talented secondary. The defensive back joined Rutgers in December out of the transfer portal and he brings some significant experience to the team’s back end.

Saturday represented Dixon’s first media availability since his transfer from fellow Big Ten program Minnesota. A good question, asked by Bobby Deren of 247 Sports, led to one of the most interesting tidbits from Saturday’s practice.

Deren asked Dixon how he got the nickname ‘Flip.’

“It came from my uncle man when I got it when I was a baby when I came from the hospital,” Dixon said before being asked why he got the nickname.

“My feet they was like long like flippers.”

And there, faster than you could say Flip flop, they was doing the bop, came out the truth about Dixon’s name.

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Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak will be hoping that Dixon leaves a strong imprint on the SHI Stadium turf with those flippers. With 30 games of Big Ten experience (and six starts), Dixon certainly adds a veteran’s presence to a unit that is young.

Last season at Minnesota, he posted 28 tackles and three passes defended, both career-highs. 

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Settling in at a new program has been good for Dixon so far.

“It’s been good – I just getting adjusted and stuff like that,” Dixon said.

“It’s a similar culture to Minnesota so I’m just taking it day by day, getting adjusted.”

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