The Silver Lining to Kevin Dixon’s Dismissal

4 comments so far August 4, 2008 by Steve Hanway

Every problem presents an opportunity. Losing senior defensive tackle Kevin Dixon is a problem for the 2008 Husker team. It’s also an opportunity for a younger player to develop and gain experience for 2009 and beyond.

One of the major offseason stories for 2009 was going to be the lack of experience on the defensive line. Prior to Kevin Dixon’s dismissal, the Huskers had slated three seniors to start on the defensive line in 2008 and three more as second-string. If all had stayed healthy, that would have meant only one starter and one key reserve would have returned for 2009. That’s not exactly ideal going into the 2009 season.

It had been reported in the past that Mike Leach had deliberately given more playing time to younger players in one point in his coaching tenure at Texas Tech, in order to build his team for the following season. That may not seem like a big deal, but think of what a betrayal it must seem like to the seniors. Players that have spent four to five years preparing to live their dream and leave their mark only for their coach decide, “It’s next year that REALLY counts�.

There are plenty of examples of this. Think of Chris Simms playing ahead of a clearly better Major Applewhite or the Rudy Carpenter/Sam Keller showdown at Arizona State. You have to wonder if Dan Hawkins was really focused on the 2006 season when he took the helm at Colorado, or whether he was laying a foundation for future years.

It stands to reason that if you have two roughly equivalent players, one that’s a senior and another that’s an underclassman, you’ll benefit more in the long run by playing the youngster. But it seems almost unethical. You recruit players with the promise that you’re going to help them develop and live their dream. Flushing a season for future development flies in the face of that.

But Bo Pelini says he sees things in black and white and he probably wouldn’t dream of benching a senior just to build for the future. But if that player throws himself under the bus, Pelini’s not necessarily going to dive under there with him. Dixon had every opportunity to remain a heavy rotation player. But he crossed a clearly defined line and now he’ll pay the price. The 2008 Huskers might well suffer on the field because of it.

But it seems likely that future Husker teams only stand to benefit. And as a fan who’s more excited about the future than the present, I don’t see it as a great loss. Rather, it’s an opportunity both for some young man and for the returning members of the defensive line to gain experience for next season.

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