Nixon tabbed to direct BYU football player experience and equipment operations

PROVO, Utah — Head coach Kalani Sitake today named Billy Nixon as Executive Coordinator of Player Experience and Equipment Operations for BYU football. 

“I am excited to announce Billy in this role directing our player experience initiatives and managing the equipment room,” Sitake said. “He will work closely with our players, helping mentor them not only during their experience here at BYU but also in the transition to their next steps after college. I feel Billy’s experience, background and training will help take us to new heights in these areas and be a catalyst to help set our program apart from others in college football.”

A Ph.D. in Sport Management: Athletic Administration and Leadership, Dr. Nixon will focus on the overall player experience for members of the football team while developing and supervising the policies, procedures and logistics related to equipment operations for the football program. He will oversee the design, delivery, evaluation and management of equipment, branding, and development experiences for NCAA Division I recruits, student-athletes, coaches, administrators, alumni and fans. He currently serves on the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) committee for the athletic department.

"For the past five years, I have been blessed to witness a coach who genuinely loves everyone and places the needs of individuals at the forefront of decision making,” Nixon said. “Our heightened focus on player experience evolved from Coach Sitake’s vision and commitment to foster a culture of ‘Love and Learning.’ I am excited to assist Coach Sitake in providing our players with the greatest experience in college athletics.”

Nixon has spent the past decade working in high school and collegiate athletics in administrative and coaching roles. He has served as a member of Sitake's BYU football support staff since the fall of 2016, working under longtime BYU football director of equipment operations Mick Hill, who retired in 2021 after a 39-year career. In this role, Nixon was instrumental in helping Hill coordinate the program's equipment operations after having previously served two years as a student assistant under Hill during Bronco Mendenhall's tenure from 2012-2014. 

A member of BYU's lacrosse team during his undergraduate studies, Nixon also served as head coach of the Spanish Fork High School boy's lacrosse team from 2017-2018, guiding the Warriors to the 2018 Class B State Championship game. Before returning to BYU in 2016, he spent three years as a Career Technical Education (CTE) teacher and head football coach at American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Nixon is a certified member of the Athletic Equipment Manager Association, serving on the AEMA Education Committee, and is an active member of the American Football Coaches Association. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Experience Design and Management from the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University (2014), a master’s in Education from Utah State University (2016), and a doctorate in Sport Management: Athletic Administration and Leadership from Troy University (2020). 

His dissertation examined how college choice factors influence student-athletes and parents' perception of environmental fit during the intercollegiate recruiting process. Nixon has researched and published numerous articles relating to NCAA compliance, sports law, transformation and servant leadership, organizational and consumer behavior, and recruiting. Nixon was inducted into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (2020) and Chi Sigma Mu Honor Society (2021).

A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Nixon graduated from Hayfield Secondary School, where he was a three-year letterman in football and lacrosse. During his undergraduate studies at BYU, he represented the university as a collegiate athlete on the men's lacrosse team, helping the Cougars become 2008 Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Champions and 2011 Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Champions. A two-time recipient of the "Cougar Spirit Award" (2011 & 2012), Nixon was recognized by his teammates for leading the team with energy, excitement and a positive attitude.

Nixon served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bangalore, India. He is married the former Chelsea Kimball, and they have three children, Evelyn, William and Hazel.