Wearing a straw cowboy hat in a football photo shoot at UC Davis was hardly Mitchell Dixon’s idea. The senior tight end did not think anything of it until one of those photos was turned into a banner. That banner hangs outside the Bob Foster Team Center and is visible from any seat in the stadium.
There are three other banners also featuring seniors. Wide receiver Samuel Gbatu Jr. and offensive tackle Ernesto Nava each has his own. The Connors twins, linebacker Porter and safety Rex, share one. The photos in those three banners are typical football poses. The players are wearing helmets.
And then there is Dixon without a facemask to conceal his identity. He has a football in his hands, a smile on his face, a few months growth on his chin and that straw cowboy hat. The Rio Americano High graduate wonders why that photo became his banner, making it so different from the others.
“I didn’t think that those pictures were ever going to see the light of day,” Dixon said Monday after the Aggies practiced to prepare for Saturday’s Big Sky Conference opener against Weber State “I think (head coach Tim Plough) thought it was a really cool picture, so he had to throw it up there.”
Dixon would get away with the hat if he were Lan Larison. The former Aggies running back was born in Idaho and competed in rodeos as much as football, basketball and baseball at Vallivue High in Caldwell. He won a state championship in steer wresting before graduating.
“He’s definitely the cowboy between us. I like a little country music, but I am not a cowboy by any means,” Dixon said of Larison, whose hopes of playing in the NFL as an undrafted rookie with the New England Patriots were put on hold in August after breaking his foot in an exhibition game.
Larison and Dixon were quarterbacks when they arrived at UC Davis in 2020. The Aggies made it clear in recruiting Larison that they would move him to running back. Larison concluded his career in 2024 by rushing for 1,465 yards, catching 62 passes for 847 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns.
Dixon joined the Aggies and was given a shot to compete with Miles Hastings and Grant Harper for the quarterback job. Hastings emerged as the starter, so Dixon and Harper split snaps on the scout team. With the scout team in need of receivers in practice, Dixon volunteered to play tight end.
Not only did Dixon cut across the middle to catch a pass from Harper, but he also caught the eye of then-tight ends coach Paul Shelton. Dixon initially balked at Shelton’s suggestion to play tight end, but the move made sense once Dixon making the switch might be his best bet for playing time.
Shelton is now the Aggies offensive coordinator and has three senior tight ends who could be first on most any Big Sky team’s depth chart. Dixon, Ian Simpson and Winston Williams have combined for 12 receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns in 2025. Williams leads in receptions (five) and Dixon in yards (56). Williams is nursing a leg injury and is unlikely to play Saturday.
Williams and Dixon had touchdown catches last Saturday as UC Davis beat Southern Utah 50-34. Scoring is nothing new for Williams, who caught 34 passes for 265 yards and six touchdowns in 2024 en route to being voted to the All-Big Sky first team. Dixon’s score was the first of his career.
When asked to recall his last touchdown in high school, Dixon said it was a Hail Mary pass on the last play of his last game at Rio Americano in 2019. He was not credited with that touchdown, however. His last score in high school came on a quarterback sneak, but Dixon could not recall when or where.
Fortunately for Dixon, his major is managerial economics and not history.
