Jamie Dixon

Coaching career

Dixon began his coaching career in 1989 as the head coach at Te Aute College, a secondary school in New Zealand, before serving as an assistant at Los Angeles Valley College from 1989–1991. He then became an assistant coach at UC-Santa Barbara and then at the University of Hawaii. Dixon then served as an assistant under Ben Howland at Northern Arizona University. After a brief stint as an assistant at Hawaii under Riley Wallace, he was reunited with Howland at Pitt in 1999. Dixon was promoted as Pittsburgh's head coach when Howland left for UCLA following the 2002–03 season.

Pittsburgh

In 13 years at Pitt, Dixon had a record of 328–123. He won 188 games in his first seven seasons, tying the NCAA Division I record for most wins in the first seven seasons of a head coaching career. Previously, Dixon's 162nd win, which came in the 2009 NCAA Tournament over Oklahoma State, broke the NCAA Division I record for most victories in the first six seasons as a head coach formerly held by former North Carolina State coach Everett Case. He was awarded the Naismith College Coach of the Year honors following the 2008–09 season.

Dixon won Big East Coach of the Year honors in 2004 for leading Pitt to a school-record 31 wins and the Big East regular season championship. He took Pitt to the final game of the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, winning the 2008 Big East Tournament Championship against No.1 seed Georgetown. He is Pitt's first and only head coach to guide the Panthers to seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and seven consecutive seasons of at least 20 overall wins and 10 league wins. In the NCAA tournament, Dixon led Pitt to the Sweet Sixteen in 2004 and 2007 and to the Elite Eight in 2009, a year that saw his Panthers earn their first-ever No.1 rankings in the AP Poll and Coaches' Poll, their first-ever victories over a No.1 ranked team (UConn, twice), and their first ever No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (East Region).

His success at Pitt continued through the 2010 season, perhaps his best coaching performance to date. The Panthers tied for second place in the Big East and earned a No.2 seed in the Big East Tournament, despite being picked to finish 9th in the conference preseason poll. Dixon guided Pitt to yet another NCAA Tournament appearance, their seventh in his first seven years as head coach, and was awarded both the Big East Coach of the Year and Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Awards by CollegeInsider.com. He is the first and only head coach in Pitt's history to lead his team to seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. At the end of the 2010 season, Dixon is the winningest coach in Big East history with a current .721 winning percentage in eight seasons of league games (98-38). He also stands second on Pitt's all-time wins list, behind only the legendary Doc Carlson.

On March 31, 2010, Pitt extended Dixon's contract by two years, through the 2017–18 season.

On April 2, 2010, Dixon was named the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year by CollegeInsider.com.

On October 23, 2010, Dixon received national attention when he assisted in removing victims from a severe car accident in a Pittsburgh suburb.

On December 22, 2010, Dixon won his 200th game with a 61-46 win over American. With the victory, Dixon tied the all-time NCAA Division I record held by Mark Few and Roy Williams for the fastest coach to earn 200 wins by achieving the mark in only eight seasons. The achievement of winning his first 200 out of 255 games also ranked Dixon among the all-time top-15 for the quickest coaches to achieve 200 victories in regards to total number of games played.

On March 2, 2011, Dixon won his 214th game with a 66-50 win over South Florida. With the victory, Dixon broke the all-time NCAA record for the most wins in a coach's first eight seasons. Following the regular season, the Panthers received a Number 1 seed in the Southeast Region of the NCAA tournament, where the Panthers defeated 16th seed UNC Asheville. They were upset in the third round by Butler University.

Dixon was named the 2010–11 Sporting News National Coach of the Year.

Outside of basketball, Dixon has been credited with a peripheral role in the Big East's decision to invite TCU to become the conference's 17th member. Specifically, he suggested to TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte that the school pursue Big East membership during a conversation at the 2010 TCU–Baylor football game. TCU would end up going to the Big 12 Conference instead.

On March 23, 2013, Pitt would again extend Dixon's contract through the 2022–23 season. The University of Pittsburgh moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference following the 2012–13 season with Dixon finishing atop the all-time list of head coaches for best conference winning percentage (.658, combined conference regular season and conference tournament games) in Big East Conference history.

TCU

On March 21, 2016, Dixon accepted the head coaching position at his alma mater. In his first season in Fort Worth, Dixon led the Frogs to their best Big 12 conference record (6–12) since joining the league in 2012–13, their first-ever program win over a #1-ranked team, their first Big 12 Tournament semifinal game, and the NIT championship.

Notable players coached

United States

Jamie Dixon became the head coach of the United States under-19 men's national basketball team in 2009. That summer, he led the United States to its first gold medal in 18 years in the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship held in Auckland, New Zealand. For this accomplishment, Dixon was later named USA Basketball Coach of the Year.

Acting

Jamie is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. He starred in various commercials as a child and into his early twenties, including ads for Volvo, Rice Krispies, Mattel and Bud Light.

Head coaching record

As of the end of the 2015–16 season, Dixon has won 12 NCAA Tournament games.