BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — D'Cota Dixon and Scott Nelson will just be hanging out and enjoying each other's company.
Or, as Nelson says, "We'll be watching a movie in his house or we'll be walking somewhere."
And then, unannounced, out of the blue, it will happen.
"He'll start backpedaling," Nelson said of Dixon.
In the living room. On the street. Doesn't matter where. When the mood strikes Dixon …
"He'll just start backpedaling," Nelson reiterated.
Some habits are hard to break. Especially for Wisconsin's most experienced defensive back.
With 23 career starts, Dixon, who will be a fifth-year senior, is the unquestioned leader of a secondary looking to replace three mainstays: Derrick Tindal, Nick Nelson and Natrell Jamerson.
But here's the catch: Dixon has been forced to cage his energy because of a shoulder injury that has prevented him from practicing this spring and relegated him to the sidelines in a teaching role.
"You can tell that he misses it," said Nelson, an 18-year-old freshman safety who has already forged such a strong friendship with Dixon that he noted, "He has become a brother."
So much so that Nelson had some explaining to do when he returned to Michigan for Easter.
"My mom got mad at me," admitted Nelson, a product of University of Detroit Jesuit High School, "because I didn't invite D'Cota to come home with me for spring break."
Nelson already knew that Dixon was committed to staying on the nearly abandoned Madison campus to continue with his rehab. "And it was very quiet — eerie — but kind of nice," Dixon confirmed.
Outside the athletic training room, Dixon spent most of his time at the Dane County Juvenile Detention Center, where he's interning this semester. With school on break, he wasn't obligated to be there.
"But I chose to go anyway," Dixon said. "I'd rather hang out with the kids. Basically, it's a mentoring role. And I love it. I love working with kids. I have an opportunity to be positive."
It's a 24/7 attitude for the perpetually upbeat Dixon, the fourth-leading tackler in 2017. He laughed though when asked about his spur-of-the-moment backpedaling impulses.
Suggesting Nelson might have been embellishing, he did concede, "There's only so much you can do being injured. I've been in this position a lot. I've participated in one spring ball my whole career.
"So, I'm used to visualizations (during practices) and doing whatever I can to try and maintain. Mainly, I've been helping with whatever — I've been all over the map to be honest.
"Everybody is at different levels and different places. With the older guys, it's more mental, more pre-snap awareness. With the younger guys, it's getting their feet wet, understanding basic things: eye discipline, responsibility, technique, leverage.
"It's really good for all of us, including myself."
On those basics, he stressed, "They never get old. They become habit."
It's fundamental to how they're coached, according to Dixon, specifically by Jim Leonhard, who will be entering his third season as secondary coach and second as defensive coordinator.
"I tell these guys, 'You have no idea how good you've got it,'" Dixon related. "The techniques are clear, defined, and practical. And it makes it easier as a player to take coaching."
The DBs don't necessarily have to take a number in Leonhard's eighth floor office at Camp Randall Stadium. But it can be standing room only before and after practices.
"Sometimes there are five people in his office and there are only two seats," Nelson said. "Some of us have to stand or sit on the floor. I just want to be around him."
Leonhard's door is always open.
"Sometimes I go there to watch film," said cornerback Madison Cone. "Sometimes I'm just there to hear him talk, so I can soak up as much as I can. He has been a tremendous help to me."
There's nothing pretentious or complicated about Leonhard's approach.
"Shoot, he's just smart," said cornerback Faion Hicks. "He played the game in the NFL for 10 years and he has seen it all. You can ask him about any situation and he can help you.
"He pretty much has an answer for everything."
Dixon is Leonhard's "quarterback." While he's rehabbing this spring, some familiar names have been vying for repetitions at safety, including Patrick Johnson and Eric Burrell.
As a true freshman, Johnson saw most of his action on special teams. After downsizing from 225 pounds to 205, he played in four games in 2017 before sustaining a season-ending arm injury.
Some of the UW wide receivers have compared Johnson's physicality to Dixon, who has always been known as a "down-hill" attacker. Burrell, meanwhile, played in some specialty packages last fall.
At cornerback, Dontye Carriere-Williams is Leonhard's most seasoned competitor. As a redshirt freshman, he was the third corner on the depth chart and an integral component of the nickel defense.
During the first week of spring ball, Carriere-Williams was dealing with an abdominal injury, which created more playing opportunities for redshirt sophomore Caesar Williams, Cone, Hicks, et al.
Despite the graduation losses, and injuries, Dixon stressed, "We have no choice but to improve. It's the nature of the game. The show will go on whether there's a D'Cota or a Dontye."
In time, Nelson, Cone and Hicks could develop into showstoppers. Here's the skinny on each:
If anyone can relate to Dixon's pent-up emotion from being inactive this spring, spawning those impromptu backpedaling sequences, it's Nelson, who confided, "I'd being doing the same thing."
Been there. Done that. As a high school senior, Nelson missed a handful of games because of an ankle injury. When healthy, he had an impact as a quarterback, safety and punt returner.
"I grew up a Michigan State fan," he volunteered. "Everybody expected me to go to Michigan State when they offered me. A few people expected me to go to Michigan.
"Nobody expected me to go to Wisconsin."
In the end, however, Nelson opted for the Badgers over Iowa and Penn State.
"It was the people, that was the biggest thing," Nelson said of his decision. "It's the whole coaching staff, they all genuinely care about you. And that was a huge thing for me."
Nelson arrived last summer without any expectations as a true freshman. Prior to the start of training camp, he pulled his hamstring, which essentially sealed his fate as far as redshirting.
"I kind of embraced it; 'I'm a redshirt and I'm going to get better each day,'" he said.
Along with getting into the playbook, he got into the weight room.
"I came in at 184 and I'm 208 right now," he said proudly. "I feel a lot more confident. I'm faster, I'm bigger and I feel like I've learned the defense a lot over the past year."
It has allowed Nelson to play "faster" during spring drills.
"You've got to know everything on the field, everything that everyone is doing," he said. "If you do, you can play at 100 miles per hour. If you don't, you're hesitant and unsure.
"I'm going out here each day this spring and trying to be the best safety I can become. I'm not worrying about who's starting next year. I'm focusing on me getting better."
Dixon likes Nelson's demeanor — "He's a leader" — and poise.
"He's very mature for his age," Dixon said. "He has God-given talent. It's undeniable. And he has maturity and character. I'm really excited to see him grow. He will blossom over the years."
Nelson still remembers his first meeting with Dixon.
"We were in the academic offices," he said. "On the white board, he was writing stuff down and asking me what I would do in this situation and then telling me what he would do.
"He has always challenged me to know the playbook. From a football point of view, he has just helped me so much. He's always teaching me."
Cone, a native of Kernersville, North Carolina, was named after his grandfather. "I've also got an older cousin named Madison," he said. "Since I'm the third one, they call me 'Little Madison.'"
What were the odds that a prospect named Madison would wind up in Madison?
"It was all God's plan," Cone said. "Throughout the recruiting process, I was looking at a lot of places. I wasn't sure at first about coming up here. But I know now this is where I'm supposed to be."
Last season, Cone appeared in nine games.
"This year," he said, "I'm a totally new player, mentally and physically."
Just compare the tapes, he urged, from last spring and this spring.
"We throw on those old clips," said Cone, who enrolled last January, "and me and the coaches laugh all the time. There's that big of a difference. No. 31 is a totally different guy."
That's the jersey number that Cone is now wearing. Last April, he was No. 24. The No. 31 is in honor of his uncle, Teddy Patterson, a pastor in Lenoir, North Carolina.
"My uncle wore No. 31, he was a big-time recruit and a pretty big deal in high school," Cone said. "But he tore his ACL as a senior. Technology wasn't like it is today and he was never the same.
"But he has impacted my life tremendously. He has helped me grow as man — in every way. I don't think that he understands the effect he's had on me. But I can't thank him enough."
Football was not Cone's favorite sport growing up. Basketball was.
"I really didn't take football seriously until going into my senior year," he said. "I played it for fun, but I never really worked out at it. I didn't do any summer workouts."
Cone wanted to play college basketball and got some nibbles from High Point and Wofford. "They overlooked me because I was small," he said of the recruiters. So, he made a choice.
"I'd rather go big time and play football," he explained.
But he was well behind the developmental curve in that sport.
"I was more athletic than guys in high school," he said. "I was quicker and I got away with a lot of stuff. When you get to college, everyone is quick, and a lot of guys are bigger than you.
"Technique-wise, I had none when I came here last year. I was starting from scratch. I can't thank Coach Leonhard, Coach Fenelus and Coach Youboty enough."
(Antonio Fenelus is a former quality control assistant; Ashton Youboty is a current one.)
"They played a tremendous role in my growth," he added. "I've gotten a lot bigger and quicker."
Dixon can attest to the results.
"Madison is a lot more calm than he used to be," he said. "He's devoted and determined. And he'll work his butt off until the lights are off in the stadium. He's that type of guy."
Cone, like Nelson, has benefited from the competitive environment.
"With Nick (Nelson) and DT (Derrick Tindal) gone, it's open competition and it's bringing out the best out of everyone," he said. "Coach says it all the time, 'We don't have any starters right now.'"
But don't sell this group short, he warned.
"Since we lost a lot of DBs," said Cone, 20, "a lot of people are thinking that we're going to drop off. But we have something in store for everybody this season."
One of the first people that Hicks met on campus was former UW cornerback Sojourn Shelton. As Floridians, there was an immediate bond. Shelton is from Fort Lauderdale; Hicks is from Miami.
"I came in early and he was here training for the draft," said Hicks, who, like Cone, was an early enrollee, graduating from high school in December and enrolling for the second semester last January.
"Sojourn kind of took me under his wing and taught me a lot. He told me, 'Play your game. Use your speed. Trust what you see. Watch film and be confident.'"
Tindal shared some of the same advice with Hicks. Tindal is also from Fort Lauderdale, which is where Carriere-Williams went to high school (St. Thomas Aquinas).
"Me and Dontye played on 7-on-7 teams my sophomore and junior years — that's a big thing back home," said Hicks, who was on Flanagan High School's state championship team as a junior.
"So, we knew each other before Wisconsin. The crazy thing is we never knew that we would end up on the same team. We're always talking about building a South Florida DB tradition here.
"Devin Gaulden (Miramar) and Sojourn started it; we just want to keep it going."
A reoccurrence of an old shoulder injury derailed Hicks last spring. "But once I started practicing the third week of the season, it was almost like I didn't skip a beat," said Hicks, who still redshirted.
"I feel a lot more confident this spring, especially taking a lot more reps in practice," he went on. "You have the athleticism coming out of high school — that's why you're here. But it's just a matter of taking your game to the next level as far as your mind."
The 19-year-old Hicks understands that he must get more physical. Shelton went through that stage, too. "He's like a young Sojourn," Dixon said. "He has crazy talent; great feet, extraordinary feet."
In general, Dixon has been encouraged by what he has seen in the secondary overall.
"What is really cool is that the corners are all young and hungry and aggressive," said Dixon, adding true freshman Donte Burton (Loganville, Georgia) to the list.
"He (Burton) loves to hit, he loves contact, which is really great when you have a corner who likes to come in and bring the boom. He's like a little version of Nick (Nelson).
"Coach Leonhard has been doing a great job coaching them and the players have been doing a great job taking more ownership of the position as defensive backs.
"That has been fun and motivating for me to watch and observe.
"I can't wait to get out there with these guys."
