CARTHAGE, Texas — Four-star athlete Kelvontay Dixon could play receiver or running back at Arkansas because of his playmaking skills and ability to make defenders miss.
“He’s hard to tackle even if he was in a phone booth,” Carthage coach Scott Surratt said. “He’s a great athlete. He’s one of the fastest, if not the fastest, I’ve ever coached.”
Dixon, 6-0, 173 pounds, of Carthage, Texas, had scholarship offers from Texas, Illinois, Colorado, Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU and others before committing to Arkansas.
Surratt said the offense evolves around Dixon.
“We either give it to him, fake it to him,” Surratt said. “He’s going to get everyone else 1-on-1. We fake the jet to get our running schemes better for the tailback. Everything goes around him.”
Dixon, who had 84 receptions for 1,288 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior, has 19 catches for 297 yards and 7 touchdowns along with 6 carries for 56 yards for the 4-0 Bulldogs.
He admits the Hogs’ 31-24 loss to San Jose State bothered him.
“It kind of did,” he said. “It won’t be too much of a disappointment as they progress. I’m pretty sure they’ll get better as the season goes.”
ESPN rates Dixon a 4-star prospect, the No. 55 recruit in Texas and No. 30 athlete in the nation.
Associate head coach Jeff Traylor, who recruits east Texas, was able to forge a relationship with Dixon fairly quickly in the recruiting process.
“It was very natural, just to know that’s an east Texas coach and he’s actually coached against coach Surratt,” Dixon said.
He visited Arkansas for a game last fall, again on March 9 along with an official visit in April before pledging to the Razorbacks in the summer.
“I like how the coaches care themselves,” he said. “They made you feel like you’re at home, like a second home.”
Dixon is looking to make his way back to Fayetteville for the Auburn game on Oct. 19. His teammate and Arkansas offensive line commit Ty’Kieast Crawford also plans to visit for the game.
He said Crawford keeps him and his teammates entertained.
“He’s like a big teddy bear,” Dixon said. “He’s goofy. When it comes to football, he takes it serious, but other than he’s goofy.”
Dixon’s mother is a coach in the school district and he wants to follow in her footsteps.
“She made me want to be a coach,” he said. “She coaches basketball here and at the junior high, and she coaches track.”