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After a spectacular regular season performance, the Baltimore Ravens are a favorite to win the 2023 NFL Super Bowl. The Ravens razed their competition with a league-best 13-4 record. They conquered their division rivals in the AFC North, secured the top seed in the AFC, and are currently two games away from the Super Bowl.
Among all the discussion about the Ravens, two key HBCU influences have skirted underneath the radar. Hampton University helped produce not one, but two pivotal figures in Baltimore's organization that have powered them to the top of the football world. Team president Sashi Brown and assistant quarterbacks coach Kerry Dixon may be on their way to Las Vegas soon, but they both recognize Hampton as their “Home By the Sea.”
Though Sashi Brown was born in Boston, he grew up in Middletown, CT. In the mid-90s, he headed down the East Coast to attend Hampton University for college. Brown was an active student, doing radio play-by-play and analysis for the football and basketball games. He hosted his own radio show on jazz music, according to the Hampton administration page.
Following his graduation in 1998, Brown headed back to Boston to attend Harvard Law School. He earned his juris doctorate degree in 2002. After a multi-year stint with WilmerHale, an international law firm, Brown scored his first NFL position with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Between 2005 and 2012, he was the Jaguars' senior vice president and general counsel. Notably, he helped negotiate the stadium name as it switched from Alltel Stadium to EverBank Field.
In 2013, Brown moved to Cleveland, OH, to work for the Cleveland Browns organization. Though he was first hired in the same roles he served in Jacksonville, the organization promoted Brown to executive vice president of football operations in 2016. Whereas before he focused primarily on the business side of things in terms of contracts, property issues, and stadium dealings, Brown now had an active hand in team operations. The Ravens' profile on Brown broke down his exact duties. “He oversaw all football operation functions, including salary cap and contracts, scouting, medical, equipment, video, travel, security, facilities and athletic performance.”
Brown left Cleveland in 2019 to join Monumental Sports & Entertainment, a Washington D.C.-based sports ownership group that owns, among others, the Wizards, Mystics, Capitals, and Capital City GoGo (an NBA G-League affiliate team). He joined as the chief planning and operations officer first, though was promoted to a higher position two years later. In 2021, Brown became the special advisor to the CEO and President of Monumental Basketball, where he managed operations for the Wizards, Mystics, and GoGo.
Finally, on April 1, 2022, the Baltimore Ravens hired Brown as team president to succeed the 18-year veteran Dick Cass. Since taking over, the Ravens have hired offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, both of whom are candidates for Assistant Coach of the Year and may be up for head coaching jobs soon. With a dyamite coaching staff, the Ravens are looking to win their third Super Bowl in franchise history.
While Sashi Brown takes care of the team from the office, Kerry Dixon is regularly down on the field as the assistant quarterbacks coach. Long before Baltimore, however, Dixon was a star quarterback in Houston, TX. As a senior at Booker T. Washington High School, Dixon received All-Greater Houston Area honors that propelled him to Baylor University.
Unfortunately, Dixon didn't get much of an opportunity at Baylor. After two seasons, he transferred to Hampton University. As a Pirate, Dixon led Hampton to back-to-back successful seasons of 7-5 and 6-4. In 2003, he was selected to the HBCU All-Star Game. In 2005, Dixon went back to Houston to be an assistant coach at his alma mater.
Between 2007 and 2014, Dixon held six different jobs at six different schools. He had a string of HBCU coaching spots from 2007 to 2009 with Morgan State, Texas Southern, and Stillman. In 2010 and 2011, he was the running backs coach for Montana State. He maintained that position when he switched to Florida Atlantic in 2012 and 2013. Dixon continued being a running backs coach in 2014 at Florida International.
Finally, in 2015, Dixon found some stability with the University of Florida. Now a wide receivers coach, he helped Antonio Callaway become the third-fastest Gator to reach 1,00-0 receiving yards. He stayed in Gainesville for three years until moving to Toledo, OH, to become a running backs coach again for the Rockets.
In 2019, Dixon landed what would be his final collegiate coaching job. As a wide receivers coach at Georgia Tech, he helped the receiving room blossom. In 2019, Dixon helped Ahmarean Brown tie Calvin Johnson's record for touchdown receptions as a freshman. The next season, under Dixon's tutelage, Jalen Camp set career highs with 29 receptions, 439 receiving yards, and four touchdowns catches. Before Dixon, Camp had just 12 catches and zero touchdowns.
Finally, in 2022, he joined the Baltimore Ravens as an assistant quarterbacks coach. Last season, after Lamar Jackson got injured, he helped backup Tyler Huntley throw for 658 yards and two touchdowns. The Ravens nearly beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, who ended up making the AFC Championship game that season. For the first time in his career, Huntley was selected to the Pro Bowl.
This season, Dixon and the NFL's first all-black quarterback room assisted Lamar Jackson into what could be his second Most Valuable Player award. Jackson is fourth in quarterback rating and threw for 3,678 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He threw for over 300 passing yards three times this season. Furthermore, he powered the Ravens to dominant victories over the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks. In the final weeks of the regular season, he took control of the MVP discussion with outstanding performances agains the Los Angeles Rams in overtime, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Miami Dolphins.
