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Jasmine Nixon quietly sat at her dining room table alongside her brother Will and twin sisters Faith and Hope. It was around 10 p.m., and their parents, Laura and Jeff Nixon, were winding down upstairs.

A Monopoly board — either classic, “SpongeBob” or “Game of Thrones”-themed, depending on the night — rested at the center. A Marvel movie glowed in the background. As the dice rolled, Will negotiated deals with the twins. Moments later, Jasmine scrambled to counter her older brother’s gambit — but it rarely worked.

“I always won,” Will said. “I think Jasmine won once.”

Four hours after the opening roll, Jasmine would bolt upstairs in frustration. Laura and Jeff struggled to sleep through the noise. Faith and Hope laughed in confusion, while Will remained seated, adding yet another win to his running tally.

“They’re both really competitive kids,” Jeff said of Jasmine and Will. “It almost gets to a point where it’s kinda ridiculous.”

That rivalry became the family’s signature. It spilled from Monopoly to backyard games, now following them to Syracuse. While Will and Jeff have helped shape SU football as a running back and offensive coordinator, Jasmine has used her family-forged edge to anchor Syracuse women’s soccer’s defense.

“I don’t think I’d be here today if it wasn’t for what my family did,” Jasmine said. “I feel like I have a great support system, like I’m not alone.”

In 2011, Jeff had recently left his job as a coaching assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles to become the Miami Dolphins’ running backs coach. The move forced 5-year-old Jasmine to restart.

Each Nixon sibling had begun to find their niche. Faith and Hope loved art, and Will spent nearly every waking hour playing baseball or football. Jasmine was still searching.

That changed one afternoon in Miami, when she spotted a group of girls kicking a soccer ball down the street. She didn’t recognize the game, but without hesitation, she told Laura she wanted to give it a try.

No one in the football-focused Nixon family had played soccer before. Prior to bouncing around the National Football League, Jeff played halfback at West Virginia and Penn State from 1993-96. Will was born in 2001, and Faith and Hope were born 13 months later. Jasmine came three years after that.

That day in Miami, Jasmine’s path began to take shape. Years of recreational practices followed before they turned competitive. But Jasmine’s most growth came at home.

Jasmine Nixon (second from left) smiles with her family during a trip to Hawaii. Years of practices with her father Jeff and brother Will helped pave her path to Syracuse women’s soccer. Courtesy of Laura Nixon

Any time Jasmine and Will sat idle on the couch at their Almaden, California residence — when Jeff coached with the San Francisco 49ers — Jeff would tell them to get up and go to the field. The two trained for hours on end, working through ladders and parachute runs while Jeff peppered them with advice on speed, physicality and footwork.

Jeff constantly advised Jasmine to outwork her opponents. When she was told her workout was almost over, he made her keep going. For Jeff, though, all his coaching was a mere facade.

“I tried to act like I knew what I was doing. I had no idea what to do in soccer,” Jeff said. “But my job was to make sure (Jasmine) was in good shape and to continue to work on things she wanted to improve on.”

As a football player, Will consistently helped Jasmine develop the physicality needed to become a premier forward in any setting. Will would play goalkeeper for Jasmine, who would then return the favor, defending Will as a cornerback or middle linebacker. The sessions were endless.

“(Will’s) dedication and what he’s able to obtain, just working and getting better every day, I think she’s seen that,” Laura said. “It’s just her big brother she looks up to.”

With stints in Florida, California, Texas and North Carolina, Jasmine’s game transformed as she adapted to different styles of play.

In Waco, Texas, when Jeff coached at Baylor, a preteen Jasmine couldn’t locate a travel team that “matched her pace.” While her parents suggested she try a different sport, Jasmine insisted on soccer. An extensive search led Jasmine to FC Dallas’ Academy, located two and a half hours away from the Nixons.

Laura or Charmaine Hooper — a former Canadian soccer star whose daughter, Notre Dame’s Charlie Codd, played alongside Jasmine — pulled Jasmine out of school early every day to drive her to practice. By the time she returned home, the skies were pitch black.

On the weekends, the Nixons virtually lived at the field. Will played on Fridays. Jeff’s team played on Saturdays. Jasmine’s club games were on Sundays.

“There was never a dull moment,” Laura joked.

Amid the chaos, Jasmine and Will stepped into their father’s world, using NFL weight rooms and open fields to hone their craft.

Some of Jeff’s players also acknowledged the Nixon siblings. When Reggie Bush visited one of Will’s youth football practices, Jasmine stayed in the back as most looked on in awe, quietly taking it all in.

In 2020, Jeff, as the Carolina Panthers’ running backs coach, closely advised four-time All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey. Their bond became so strong that McCaffrey joined the Nixons for dinner at their Carolina home.

“(Jasmine) could see they’re not just celebrities or people you see in a Madden game, they’re actually human beings who are just as nice and down to earth as anyone else,” Laura said.

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Those interactions infused a pro lifestyle into Jasmine’s game. Her practice regimen intensified, and she grasped the importance of a healthy diet and getting sufficient amounts of sleep.

Jasmine was accustomed to moving when the Nixons relocated from Waco to South Carolina in 2020. But after years of playing forward, the physicality she acquired from practicing with Jeff and Will made her an enticing defensive option.

When Jasmine joined the Charlotte Soccer Academy, she made the switch.

“It just clicked with me the moment I tried out. Defense, for some reason, just speaks to me,” Jasmine said. “I don’t even know how to describe it. There’s just a feeling inside.”

Because she was young for her age, Jasmine repeated play in the under-19 age group. She led a defense that allowed the fewest goals in the Mid Atlantic Conference, earning Elite Club National League All-American honors and being named to the conference’s first team.

Away from the field, Jasmine carried a quiet composure that brought comfort to others, her former teammate and current FSU defender Jaida McGrew said. After years of training with Jeff, Jasmine also grasped what a coach expects from their players.

“Success is not always what defines how great a person is. But she always loved the process of getting better,” Jasmine’s CSA head coach Brian Moore said. “That was why I knew she was gonna be great.”

Jasmine came in as a quality one-on-one defender, skilled in possession and excellent in the air. She demonstrated a ruthless, mental aspect akin to a ninja, Moore said.

When McGrew played a year below Jasmine, she faced Jasmine’s older squad in practice. In each one-on-one drill, McGrew’s teammates would calculate spots and move to the back of the line to avoid going up against Jasmine. Her composure and patience resembled those of a ballhawking defender, a trait McGrew attributed to practices with Jeff and Will.

“If you wanna get in a physical duel with her, you’re not gonna come out on the winning end of that,” Moore said. “I can’t imagine she’s anything other than a player that lives the lifestyle of a professional athlete.”

Jasmine Nixon dribbles down the sideline in Syracuse’s 3-0 loss to Virginia on Sept. 20. Across 15 games, Jasmine leads Syracuse with 1,313 minutes played. Aaron Hammer | Staff Photographer

On Sept. 1, 2022, Jasmine announced her commitment to play soccer at Kentucky. Will was at Washington after transferring from Nebraska in 2022, and Jeff was still with the Panthers, leaving shortly after to be the New York Giants’ running backs coach. It was the first time they’d all be apart. But that didn’t last.

When Jasmine joined the Wildcats in the summer of 2024, Jeff was already months into his role as Syracuse’s offensive coordinator, and Will pledged his commitment to the Orange weeks before. Just like that, Jasmine felt alone.

She’d always prioritized her academics, and Kentucky wasn’t satisfying that. After sparingly playing in seven games with the Wildcats, Jasmine proclaimed it was time for a change. SU was first on her list.

As her freshman season waned, Jasmine spoke to Will — who’d entered the transfer portal twice — for advice. Jeff had been hinting at the idea of Syracuse since before her tenure at Kentucky.

Will’s primary selling point for SU was that the two could go out together. Jeff looked more toward the academic side, often citing the prestige of Syracuse’s Whitman School of Management.

Either way, she listened, transferring to SU in the spring.

Through one season with the Orange, she feels like she’s exactly where she’s supposed to be. She often hears Jeff from the athletic facility’s grab-and-go, yelling out like he did when she and Will were younger. When Will sees Jasmine’s teammates, they call him “Jasmine’s brother,” a name he’s never owned but is proud to have.

“To me, Syracuse was a no-brainer,” Jeff said. “But she had to see that for herself.”

When Jasmine and Will return to their home in Fort Mill, South Carolina, for the summer, they circle the dining room table with their twin sisters. It’s a different table now, but the same stack of Monopoly boards sits in the middle.

Will still makes deals. Jasmine still pushes back. The sibling rivalry still lives on. Only now, a part of it’s in Syracuse.

“I’m proud she’s been able to bring her talents to soccer and Syracuse,” Faith said. “But I’ll always see her as the little sister trying to prove she’s still in the game.”

Published on October 16, 2025 at 12:40 am
Contact: jordankimball28@gmail.com | @JordanKimball_