CLINTON, Tenn. — Clinton High School is honoring the life and legacy of beloved Coach Craig Dixon on Thursday night.
Dixon died suddenly in June 2022 at the age of 59 from heart failure. He dedicated many years to supporting people in the community and the Dragons as an assistant coach for the girl's basketball team.
His fellow coaches said he was the kind of person that people radiated right to whenever they saw him.
"Our players, they have rallied around this idea of 'Living Like Craig' and playing for him and dedicating this season to him,'" Assistant Coach Lisa Watson said.
Watson said she and Craig went way back, saying their journey began when the two helped at the Claxton Youth Organization. His colleagues and students said he left behind a seat that can never be filled, so they've dedicated a special chair to Coach Dixon.
"We ordered this chair... coach wanted to make sure she had something that was sitting on our bench that the girls could be reminded in some small way that even though coach Dixon isn't here in person, he's here in spirit," Watson said.
"We'll always have a missing chair. It breaks my heart to even turn around and look at it sometimes," Coach Alicia Phillips said. "We plan, as long as I'm a coach here at Clinton High School, to honor Craig."
On Thursday night, the high school said it would pause to honor Dixon's life and legacy in the Don Lockard Gymnasium between the boy's and girl's basketball games on "Craig Dixson Night."
The resounding message from staff and players who knew him: "I love you, Coach Dixon."
"Look around you buddy, because tonight you are going to see the impact you had on everybody around you," Watson said. "I miss him and love him, and I would just say to him, 'Well done.'"