Boosters, friends laud Pitt's Dixon years
Three men outside Jamie Dixon's family who knew him as well as anyone understand why he's leaving Pitt for TCU and don't begrudge him the opportunity.
“All the stars lined up,” said Dr. Mark Duca, a Steelers team physician and a longtime donor to Pitt athletics who attends most football and basketball games.
Dixon, who was Pitt's basketball coach for the past 13 seasons, resigned Monday to accept the same position at TCU, his alma mater. Duca said he believes Dixon is leaving for “multiple reasons.”
Dixon is the second-winningest Pitt basketball coach of all-time (328 victories), but since 2009, his teams have failed to survive past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
“I think it's complicated,” Duca said of Dixon's reasons for leaving. “He's been here for a long time. I think he heard the criticism. He had the opportunity to return to his alma mater, which is a very strong draw, and he's going to get a nice paycheck.
“I didn't hear exact figures, but I think it's going to be in line with what he was making here, which is a lot of money.”
Dixon was paid a total of $3.2 million from July 2013 to June '14, according to the most recent tax documents. Duca also pointed to Dixon's close relationship with TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte.
“Chris and Jamie are good friends who talk frequently,” he said. “I'm sure this conversation occurred 20 times. This is not something that was done in the past 24 hours.”
Longtime supporter Sammie D'Agostino said Dixon was not immune to the criticism that surrounded his team, which lost five of its final seven games this season.
“Jamie is a pretty sensitive guy,” D'Agostino said. “I think that really bothered him. He felt probably responsible for that.”
D'Agostino was among a circle of supporters who counted Dixon as a friend and occasionally socialized with him in the offseason.
“He touched a lot of people, did a lot of good things,” said D'Agostino. “I used to always say to him, ‘You have to learn to say no.' ”
D'Agostino said leaving was not easy on Dixon.
“This had to be a gut-wrenching decision,” he said. “Maybe he thought it was time for a change. Sometimes change is good for both parties. He made a lot of relationships that will carry on.”
Jim Barber, another longtime donor, said he received “14 bazillion calls” Monday after news of Dixon leaving surfaced.
“I just sent him a text,” Barber said. “I said, ‘We all love you, and we'll always be rooting for you.' He's a good person.”
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
