2025 Dixie Heights Colonels

[WSL-BIRDS]

August 8 at George Rogers Clark (Scrimmage)
August 15 West Clermont (OH) (Scrimmage)
August 22 at Simon Kenton
August 29 at Hamilton Badin (OH)
September 5 Beechwood
September 12 at CovCath
September 19 Henry Clay
September 26 at Scott (District)
October 3 Cooper (District)
October 10 Conner (District)
October 17 at Boone County (District)
October 24 - BYE
October 31 Ryle

[theguru]

That is a tough schedule. 

[barrel]

18 hours ago, theguru said:

That is a tough schedule. 

Look at the schedule that last two years. Those were pretty tough too. 

[theguru]

8 minutes ago, barrel said:

Look at the schedule that last two years. Those were pretty tough too. 

I know, I follow Dixie closely, and I am glad to see the tough schedules. 

[Bengal Boy]

Looks like a 4 and 5 season with just the KY schools.  I have no idea what Badin has.

[MaddenCurse44]

Who are key players returning?

[Voice of Reason]

5 hours ago, Bengal Boy said:

Looks like a 4 and 5 season with just the KY schools.  I have no idea what Badin has.

Badin is a really good program. They would probably be a 3A size school in KY. They not only consistently make the playoffs in Ohio, they usually win games in the playoffs also - which means a lot more in Ohio than KY. Calpreps says a 2024 matchup would have been Badin 34 Dixie 14.

[CoachStew]

Scouting us was easy this past season. Undersized and inexperienced up front, stop Armani Gregg, and put the game on a QB’s shoulders we couldn’t protect. Defensively we lost a really good coordinator, and we had young players in key spots on the line and secondary. It was easy for teams to pick on the sophomores and when you looked up and down our sideline, we just had no miracle fix for our ills. And I won’t get into special teams my new year’s resolution is to drink less. If you were a Dixie parent, we as a staff sucked. If you were in our locker room, you know what a hell of a job those guys did day in and day out to field a somewhat competitive team with JV players. 

The schedule stays pretty tough sledding for us. We needed a good replacement for Hughes and could not pass an opportunity to play a quality team across the river in Badin. Also, after Highlands dropped us to go after bigger fish we had to go with who was available. Just so happens it was a 5A team in Henry Clay.

As a team for the first time in a long time, there is no household name on the roster. Offensively we will be younger but bigger up front (possibly better). The size we have coming up the pipeline right now we haven’t had since the 2020-ish season. Still young but it’s exciting. The weight room has been good to us with several sophomores already in the 1,000lb club. We are cautiously optimistic about both sides of the line. We know we have something special at QB. If we give him time no question he will be a top 10 in 5A minimum. We also have a complimentary gritty running back and a stable at receiver.

Defensively we have a lot of question marks but not necessarily a bad thing. I am excited to see how the competition for some of these spots will shape out. Happy with what we have coming back, excited for the younger guys who got significant playing time to show some growth and take the next step. Our secondary won’t be as immature and porous as this past season.

In short, we expect to be competitive and if we stay healthy, be in a good position to win ballgames this season. 

[ProblemChild]

The schedule is an issue if you're trying to build something. The past two seasons, Dixie has been, in my opinion, a top 8-12 football team in 5A. You wouldn't know it though because the schedule is brutal and unforgiving. I get wanting to challenge your guys, but the constant losses without a signature win can take it's toll when trying to build. Cooper and Highlands in district, Beechwood, CovCath, Ryle out of district. Ouch. I mean, last season, half their schedule went to the State Semi-finals or beyond. Highlands has moved classes and seemed to move on from the running clock games against Dixie. I would drop Ryle as well. No need to get beat up and blasted the last game of the regular season each year, especially right before the playoffs. I have no idea if they would do it, but a Lloyd/Dixie game should be played each year. Lloyd needs to improve their schedule and the two schools should be rivals given the proximity. The SK and Conner games will be battles year to year, and Scott/Boone Co still have their work cut out for them. Coach Burke puts in the time, builds relationships, and knows the game, but he isn't doing himself any favors with this schedule each season. 

They have had tough players like Armoni Gregg and Brach Rice, but have lacked a game changing athlete on the outside. Bryzgot and Morris are solid, but not speedsters. Dixie put up points last season with the ground game, but when teams stacked the box, they could only do so much. Mason Fields, from what I saw, improved throughout the season, but it's hard to judge his talent without athletes to throw to and a line that offered consistency. Too many drops from the wide receivers. If you watched the Colonels last year, you would realize that while they had some warts, the defense continues the be the issue.

Dixie gave up over 40pts in 7 games last season. Yes, they were undersized for a 5A school, but I was often left scratching my head in the games I saw. They consistently gave up 3rd/4th and longs. The pass rush was non-existent most games, combined with DBs that get blown by routinely. For the life of me, I will not understand why Dixie plays so much press coverage. Lastly, if your going to move Armoni Gregg to RB, why not play him on defense, too? Before someone tells me that too much on him, see Cash Harney at Covington Catholic. Coach Burke started playing more guys both ways after his first season, but defensive philosophy remains an area of concern. 

As for next season, the "Seniors to be" went winless as Freshmen. Back then, the varsity coaches were also coaching the freshmen team. That was a disaster. I am happy to see that the Freshmen now have their own coaching staff in place to get the help and attention they need. I'd look for Golsby to improve and help with skill positions, while Chase Daniels can hopefully provide an anchor to the defensive line. Unfortunately, I fear they are looking at another 3-4 win season. 

 

[CoachStew]

2 hours ago, ProblemChild said:

The schedule is an issue if you're trying to build something. The past two seasons, Dixie has been, in my opinion, a top 8-12 football team in 5A. You wouldn't know it though because the schedule is brutal and unforgiving. I get wanting to challenge your guys, but the constant losses without a signature win can take it's toll when trying to build. Cooper and Highlands in district, Beechwood, CovCath, Ryle out of district. Ouch. I mean, last season, half their schedule went to the State Semi-finals or beyond. Highlands has moved classes and seemed to move on from the running clock games against Dixie. I would drop Ryle as well. No need to get beat up and blasted the last game of the regular season each year, especially right before the playoffs. I have no idea if they would do it, but a Lloyd/Dixie game should be played each year. Lloyd needs to improve their schedule and the two schools should be rivals given the proximity. The SK and Conner games will be battles year to year, and Scott/Boone Co still have their work cut out for them. Coach Burke puts in the time, builds relationships, and knows the game, but he isn't doing himself any favors with this schedule each season. 

They have had tough players like Armoni Gregg and Brach Rice, but have lacked a game changing athlete on the outside. Bryzgot and Morris are solid, but not speedsters. Dixie put up points last season with the ground game, but when teams stacked the box, they could only do so much. Mason Fields, from what I saw, improved throughout the season, but it's hard to judge his talent without athletes to throw to and a line that offered consistency. Too many drops from the wide receivers. If you watched the Colonels last year, you would realize that while they had some warts, the defense continues the be the issue.

Dixie gave up over 40pts in 7 games last season. Yes, they were undersized for a 5A school, but I was often left scratching my head in the games I saw. They consistently gave up 3rd/4th and longs. The pass rush was non-existent most games, combined with DBs that get blown by routinely. For the life of me, I will not understand why Dixie plays so much press coverage. Lastly, if your going to move Armoni Gregg to RB, why not play him on defense, too? Before someone tells me that too much on him, see Cash Harney at Covington Catholic. Coach Burke started playing more guys both ways after his first season, but defensive philosophy remains an area of concern. 

As for next season, the "Seniors to be" went winless as Freshmen. Back then, the varsity coaches were also coaching the freshmen team. That was a disaster. I am happy to see that the Freshmen now have their own coaching staff in place to get the help and attention they need. I'd look for Golsby to improve and help with skill positions, while Chase Daniels can hopefully provide an anchor to the defensive line. Unfortunately, I fear they are looking at another 3-4 win season. 

 

Two seasons ago I would agree yes, we were a very good and very competitive team. The only team we felt “beat” us was Highlands. And full credit to them, two seasons in a row they dictated every facet of the games played against us. Any of our other losses we beat ourselves with a play here or there. The biggest game that sealed our fate was the Cooper loss. We felt that had we got their path in the postseason who knows what could have transpired. I appreciate the vote of confidence but no, this past season absolutely not a top 10. We just did not have the depth, health, or maturity to keep anyone close. I am very proud of the fight we showed even late in bad games, but we were too injured and young. There were flashes with those young ones which is why we expect to be better this season. I cannot stress enough despite the record; it was probably one of this staff’s best jobs. Armani was supposed to play both ways, but he had been fighting a lower extremity injury since week two and playing with one arm. His safety was more important. We are excited to have the numbers for a legit freshman schedule and a staff dedicated to them. Yes, we were able to get good teams in 3rd and 4th down situations. But as good teams will do, they exploited the areas where we were weakest and as I stated in my post, you look up and down the sideline and we just did not have the horses. A lot of fair criticisms and interesting observations here.

[goallinestand06]

On 1/10/2025 at 5:20 PM, theguru said:

That is a tough schedule. 

 

On 1/11/2025 at 5:04 PM, Bengal Boy said:

Looks like a 4 and 5 season with just the KY schools.  I have no idea what Badin has.

I agree that a 5-5 or 4-6 (not familiar with Badin either) season is likely. But looking at the schedule, 3 of those wins ‘should’ be in district and give Dixie a home playoff game for the first time in Burke’s tenure. After 3 seasons with 3 wins (‘22), 5 wins (‘23) and 3 wins (‘24), I think this can be an improvement for Dixie at least in terms of record. Dixie has only won one playoff game under Burke. A second place finish in the District could set them up for another playoff win this year.  
 

I have a hard time predicting improvement with the lack of success Dixie has had under Burke even with Brach Rice and Armani Gregg, but I think they can take advantage of the district alignment. 

[WSL-BIRDS]

On 1/10/2025 at 5:06 PM, WSL-BIRDS said:

August 22 at Simon Kenton

August 29 at Hamilton Badin (OH)

September 5 Beechwood

September 12 at CovCath

September 19 Henry Clay

September 26 at Scott

October 3 Cooper

October 10 Conner

October 17 at Boone County

October 24 BYE

October 31 Ryle

Freshman Schedule

Aug 28 Walton Verona

Sept 4 at Highlands

Sept 10 Ryle

Sept 18 at Simon Kenton

Sept 23 Beechwood

Oct 2 at Campbell Co 

Oct 8 Conner

Oct 16 at Cooper

Oct 23 CovCath

Oct 30 TBA

[New Colonel]

I thought long and hard about what to write, and I don't take this lightly.  But if Dixie is to keep Coach Burke and staff, then Dixie needs major overhaul in how they do things as a staff.  I really hope that the staff took a LONG and HARD look in the mirror and is drastically changing their approach to how they do things as a program.  There isn't anything to be proud of at this time.

Everything needs overhaul.  Every facet of what you have been doing needs drastic changes.    You just aren't losing, you are getting dominated and outcoached and you are not even close to competing. 

Look, I never judge a coach or his staff on wins. It's all the little things.  Are they getting better over the years?  Do they improve as the season goes on? Do they look prepared during the game?  Are they disciplined?  How's the body language of players and coaches when adversity hits?  Are players in the right spots on the field (playing a position that's best for the team, and being in the correct place on the field during a play - like are you blocking the right person, in the right gap, using solid technique)? And for me, the answer is no to all of the above.  

The offseason program needs overhauling because the kids weren't undersized, but they sure were out of shape and drastically slower than every single team you played.  If kids weren't ready to play, that's on the staff who is in charge of developing these kids over the past 3 off-seasons.

The discipline is non existent.  I believe Dixie had more penalties than every team except Hughes.  That is all coaching and expectations.  There's also horrible body language by the players.  Kids slamming helmets, talking back to coaches, and throwing temper tantrums on the sidelines. There's clear disagreements/arguments with coaches during drives, which leads to plays not getting in in a timely manner, which leads to penalties.  There's little to no coaching of players on the sidelines.  They come off the field, sit down and are ignored by the coaches.  You don't see that from your neighboring schools that are successful.... look at Beechwood and Cov Cath.  What you tolerate as a coaching staff, you promote.  That goes for your coaches and your players.

The schemes are the worst part about this team.  The schemes are putting kids in bad positions, either teaching bad techniques or allowing bad techniques to occur, and there are ZERO adjustments made during the games.  You are supposed to build schemes around your personnel.....not try to make a certain scheme fit whatever kids you have.  Quit trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole.  In 3 seasons you have seen disastrous offense and even worse defense.  Take this past season for example.  You had the 7th best rusher in all of 5A, averaging over 7 yards per carry.  You would march right down the field on the first possession of most games and score.  Then, nothing until your opponent puts in the JV team, then you would score 2-3 tds to make the game look closer than it actually was.  A competent staff would have controlled the clock with your dominant running game against these other explosive teams.  Split back offense with your two solid RBs with a TE would have done wonders this year.  But for some reason it was 4-5 wide on every play.  What is the point if the wideouts stand there and literally don't move on certain plays.  Don't even get me started on the defense where for some reason the staff would run press coverage knowing their DBs were slower than the opposing WRs every single week.  Then you would have reckless blitzing when you wouldn't even get pressure with the blitz..... just taking LBs out of the plays.  The defense gave up an average of 186 yards per game on the ground!! No sound scheme does that, even if kids are overmatched physically.  Dixie gave up more rushing yards than passing yards if I'm not mistaken.  Over the past 3 years, you have given up over 34 points per game on average. You aren't going to win games when you can't stop any team from scoring.... just ask the Bengals. Change the schemes, they don't work.  Nobody can even remotely argue that they are sound and that they are effective. The on the field product over the past 3 seasons speaks for itself.

Lastly, there is lack of community engagement.  Dixie doesn't do anything to get Middle School and Youth players excited for your team. Show your face to the middle schoolers.... to a couple of practices and games.   Just show up to the youth practices a couple of times (other than Dixie Youth).  I said it before, Dixie has 4 youth programs that will all feed into the high school (I don't know of any NKY team that has such a luxury).... Dixie Youth, Spartans (about half of the Spartans wind up at Dixie), Erlanger Lions & Ludlow Youth (some of the Lions & Ludlow youth territory are actually a part of Kenton County Schools and they will go to Dixie).  But, no, the non Dixie youth teams get completely ignored. Heck, Spartans have donated a team meal to the Colonels the past 2 seasons and have asked if Coach Burke could show up and talk to the kids, and it was crickets.  Beechwood's coaches didn't have problems showing up for a couple practices and games, even if it's for a little bit..... Kids eat that stuff up and it makes them want to go there and play because they see that the coach is vested in the future.

This season is do or die. They need a winning season. They have to win 6 games if they want to keep younger kids from bouncing and going elsewhere. However, with this schedule and what I've seen, I don't see more than 3 wins.  There is quite a bit of talent in the pipeline that's going to get wasted if things don't change.  There's some dudes who are freshman currently.  The 8th grade team at Turkey Foot has some really, really athletic players.  And the 7th grade team is absolutely loaded with talent.  The thing is, many of them are saying they won't play in high school, because they don't want to get embarrassed weekly.  

So, Dixie coaches, please wake up!  Make changes. Self reflection is hard, but what you have been doing is clearly not working. Don't come out next season with "the same ol same ol" and expect different results because it won't happen. And with the schedule coming up, you need to figure something out or else you are going to be 3-7 and set the program back years.

[goallinestand06]

6 hours ago, New Colonel said:

I thought long and hard about what to write, and I don't take this lightly.  But if Dixie is to keep Coach Burke and staff, then Dixie needs major overhaul in how they do things as a staff.  I really hope that the staff took a LONG and HARD look in the mirror and is drastically changing their approach to how they do things as a program.  There isn't anything to be proud of at this time.

Everything needs overhaul.  Every facet of what you have been doing needs drastic changes.    You just aren't losing, you are getting dominated and outcoached and you are not even close to competing. 

Look, I never judge a coach or his staff on wins. It's all the little things.  Are they getting better over the years?  Do they improve as the season goes on? Do they look prepared during the game?  Are they disciplined?  How's the body language of players and coaches when adversity hits?  Are players in the right spots on the field (playing a position that's best for the team, and being in the correct place on the field during a play - like are you blocking the right person, in the right gap, using solid technique)? And for me, the answer is no to all of the above.  

The offseason program needs overhauling because the kids weren't undersized, but they sure were out of shape and drastically slower than every single team you played.  If kids weren't ready to play, that's on the staff who is in charge of developing these kids over the past 3 off-seasons.

The discipline is non existent.  I believe Dixie had more penalties than every team except Hughes.  That is all coaching and expectations.  There's also horrible body language by the players.  Kids slamming helmets, talking back to coaches, and throwing temper tantrums on the sidelines. There's clear disagreements/arguments with coaches during drives, which leads to plays not getting in in a timely manner, which leads to penalties.  There's little to no coaching of players on the sidelines.  They come off the field, sit down and are ignored by the coaches.  You don't see that from your neighboring schools that are successful.... look at Beechwood and Cov Cath.  What you tolerate as a coaching staff, you promote.  That goes for your coaches and your players.

The schemes are the worst part about this team.  The schemes are putting kids in bad positions, either teaching bad techniques or allowing bad techniques to occur, and there are ZERO adjustments made during the games.  You are supposed to build schemes around your personnel.....not try to make a certain scheme fit whatever kids you have.  Quit trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole.  In 3 seasons you have seen disastrous offense and even worse defense.  Take this past season for example.  You had the 7th best rusher in all of 5A, averaging over 7 yards per carry.  You would march right down the field on the first possession of most games and score.  Then, nothing until your opponent puts in the JV team, then you would score 2-3 tds to make the game look closer than it actually was.  A competent staff would have controlled the clock with your dominant running game against these other explosive teams.  Split back offense with your two solid RBs with a TE would have done wonders this year.  But for some reason it was 4-5 wide on every play.  What is the point if the wideouts stand there and literally don't move on certain plays.  Don't even get me started on the defense where for some reason the staff would run press coverage knowing their DBs were slower than the opposing WRs every single week.  Then you would have reckless blitzing when you wouldn't even get pressure with the blitz..... just taking LBs out of the plays.  The defense gave up an average of 186 yards per game on the ground!! No sound scheme does that, even if kids are overmatched physically.  Dixie gave up more rushing yards than passing yards if I'm not mistaken.  Over the past 3 years, you have given up over 34 points per game on average. You aren't going to win games when you can't stop any team from scoring.... just ask the Bengals. Change the schemes, they don't work.  Nobody can even remotely argue that they are sound and that they are effective. The on the field product over the past 3 seasons speaks for itself.

Lastly, there is lack of community engagement.  Dixie doesn't do anything to get Middle School and Youth players excited for your team. Show your face to the middle schoolers.... to a couple of practices and games.   Just show up to the youth practices a couple of times (other than Dixie Youth).  I said it before, Dixie has 4 youth programs that will all feed into the high school (I don't know of any NKY team that has such a luxury).... Dixie Youth, Spartans (about half of the Spartans wind up at Dixie), Erlanger Lions & Ludlow Youth (some of the Lions & Ludlow youth territory are actually a part of Kenton County Schools and they will go to Dixie).  But, no, the non Dixie youth teams get completely ignored. Heck, Spartans have donated a team meal to the Colonels the past 2 seasons and have asked if Coach Burke could show up and talk to the kids, and it was crickets.  Beechwood's coaches didn't have problems showing up for a couple practices and games, even if it's for a little bit..... Kids eat that stuff up and it makes them want to go there and play because they see that the coach is vested in the future.

This season is do or die. They need a winning season. They have to win 6 games if they want to keep younger kids from bouncing and going elsewhere. However, with this schedule and what I've seen, I don't see more than 3 wins.  There is quite a bit of talent in the pipeline that's going to get wasted if things don't change.  There's some dudes who are freshman currently.  The 8th grade team at Turkey Foot has some really, really athletic players.  And the 7th grade team is absolutely loaded with talent.  The thing is, many of them are saying they won't play in high school, because they don't want to get embarrassed weekly.  

So, Dixie coaches, please wake up!  Make changes. Self reflection is hard, but what you have been doing is clearly not working. Don't come out next season with "the same ol same ol" and expect different results because it won't happen. And with the schedule coming up, you need to figure something out or else you are going to be 3-7 and set the program back years.

100% agree. To hear that Burke has completely ignored invitations to speak to their youth teams is embarrassing for the Dixie football program. Numerous times I have seen Dixie offensive players throw their hands up in the air and stand still during offensive plays because they aren’t getting play calls or don’t know their assignment. 
As you stated, numerous times Dixie was shut out by their opponent’s varsity personnel and as their opponent subbed in their JV players, Dixie would keep in their starters to pad stats and score a couple TDs to make the final seem more respectable. 
I’m shocked this job isn’t open right now and it’s a direct reflection on the administration. It will be a long road for a future coach to fix four straight years of wasted development. I truly feel for the players and parents as this situation seems hopeless. 

[New Colonel]

12 hours ago, goallinestand06 said:

I’m shocked this job isn’t open right now and it’s a direct reflection on the administration. It will be a long road for a future coach to fix four straight years of wasted development. I truly feel for the players and parents as this situation seems hopeless. 

And this is the feeling of the Dixie community as a whole.  And again, nobody is expecting Dixie to be world beaters and compete for state titles every year.  But winning 6-7 games in the regular season shouldn't be asking too much.  Winning games against Beechwood and Cov Cath every couple years shouldn't be too much to ask..... the kids all come from the same basic area and all hang out together.  

This really isn't asking much.