TCU’s Jamie Dixon said UCLA situation has no bearing on team | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Since UCLA offered Jamie Dixon a job, TCU has not been the same | Opinion

TCU coach Jamie Dixon is three games under .500 since UCLA offered him its head coaching job two years ago.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon is three games under .500 since UCLA offered him its head coaching job two years ago. AP

It has been two years since UCLA all but named Jamie Dixon its next head coach, and TCU has not had a winning record since. Maybe that’s a coincidence, but the record is not flattering.

Technically, TCU is three games under .500 since UCLA made the call.

Dixon said Thursday afternoon in a phone interview he believes that situation has no impact on the development of the TCU basketball team.

“It’s had no affect on our program,” he said. “I love it here. But it was something, as a son dealing with my family’s health, I had to take that phone call.”

TCU finished 16-16 in 2019-20. It finished 12-14 in this season, collapsing over the final weeks of the season.

The team just eked out 50 points in a blowout loss against lowly Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.

This is not what TCU hired, and not what Dixon did when he first arrived as the famous alum/son who would save what had been the worst job in Power 5 basketball.

On Thursday, USA Today released its annual men’s college basketball coaching salary database, and Dixon’s $3.67 million annual salary is No. 14 in the nation, and second highest in the Big 12.

Not behind Kansas’ Bill Self, but rather Texas Tech’s Chris Beard. Beard’s $4.8 million annual salary makes him the fourth highest paid coach in the nation.

This is not a case of hindsight. This was foresight.

I told Dixon in April of 2019, “If you wanted that job, and they would not let you out, I am sorry for you and your family.”

TCU’s decision to make its basketball coach stick to a reported $8 million buyout figure kept him here. He was raised in L.A., and his parents and sister all live in the area.

Plus, it’s UCLA.

It would have been similar to Roy Williams leaving Kansas for North Carolina.

The L.A. Times reported that UCLA had a press release, and an office door name plate, ready for Jamie Dixon.

It all fell apart, and UCLA hired former Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin.

Since then, TCU has not maintained the success it had in Dixon’s first three years. In Dixon’s first three years in Fort Worth, TCU won the NIT, reached the NCAA Tournament, and made the NIT Final Four.

For TCU basketball, that resume earns a statue.

TCU was relevant in men’s college basketball, which is the goal. It beat No. 1 Kansas, was around the NCAA Tournament bid discussion, and had developed two players — Kenrich Williams and Desmond Bane — who would go on to the NBA.

It made sense why TCU fought to keep Dixon.

TCU director of athletics Jeremiah Donati was relatively new to the job, having replaced the popular Chris Del Conte. Donati was less than two years into the position, and he didn’t want to lose a winning coach.

Donati’s first major move as AD was to give Dixon an extension through the 2023-24 season.

An $8 million buyout is not loose change.

Del Conte likely would have been more receptive at negotiating an agreement that would have allowed Dixon to leave. And considering the length of his tenure at TCU, and success, CDC would have had a greater chance at soothing TCU chancellor Victor Boschini.

TCU, and Boschini, didn’t want to just let Dixon leave without honoring the buyout.

But there is always a way.

In 2007, coach John Beilein left West Virginia for Michigan and negotiated a payment plan to pay a $1.5 million buyout clause himself.

As badly as TCU wanted to keep Dixon, it should have had the confidence to know it could have found a quality replacement. TCU is not Duke, but it has facilities and money, and its presence in the Big 12 would have attracted a slew of good candidates.

It has not helped since 2019, TCU has seen major players leave early; point guard Jaylen Fisher could not stay healthy, and transferred. Shooting guard Kouat Noi turned pro. Guard Kendric Davis transferred to SMU.

“It’s not just one area we have to get better,” Dixon said. “We have to get older and we have to get more depth.”

Dixon is not going to be fired, and COVID is a cover for coaches like him who have had a rough year or two. This is a competent, competitive man who is not just stealing money.

This was the first time in his 18-year head coaching career he had a losing record. He needs a few players, and TCU can have a winning record again.

There is nothing TCU can do about it now except to remember the next time a coach wants to go, don’t stand in their way.

This story was originally published March 11, 2021, 1:14 PM.

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