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The delicate art of punting has a few exotic tricks. And Riley Dixon knows them all. Luckily for Syracuse senior punter Jack Stonehouse, that means he does, too.

Over the last three summers, the two have trained at SU’s football facility in what the 10-year NFL veteran punter Dixon calls “Spitball Sessions.” There, they boot balls around and crack jokes as if they’re lifelong friends at a backyard barbecue. They also test out different punting styles to gain a competitive edge.

Take the “banana ball” — the greatest trick Dixon’s pulled out of his bag for Stonehouse — for example. It’s an unorthodox ball-striking strategy where you hold the ball sideways and strike it in the opposite direction of your dominant foot to create side spin.

It results in a ball that displays a helicopter-esque rotation, then sputters onto the turf about 40-50 yards away and keeps bouncing forward. Dixon says it’s not a crowd-pleaser. When perfected, though, it’s a return team’s nightmare.

“It’s not impossible by any means,” Dixon said. “But, it’s difficult.”

For his protege, challenge accepted.

“Man, I’ve been trying to perfect it and learn it,” Stonehouse said eagerly.

Dixon, an Oneida native who lives in Syracuse every offseason, loves showing young punters like Stonehouse the ways of a professional. Since getting drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 2016 NFL Draft — following his career at Syracuse from 2012-15, when the #DixonForHeisman fad took over — he’s stayed heavily involved in providing wisdom to SU’s punters, mainly Stonehouse, partly due to Orange head coach Fran Brown’s outreach to keep alumni like Dixon around the program often.

Ten years into his NFL career, Dixon spoke to The Daily Orange to reminisce about his time as a walk-on at Syracuse and the connections he still has in the city he calls home.

“I’ve got a lot of pride for Syracuse, living there and being a part of that community,” Dixon said last Thursday. “Syracuse football was always something I dreamed of doing. I remember the days as a kid watching Donovan McNabb and those guys rolling, so it was a dream come true. So now I keep in touch with a couple of the guys there.”

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Dixon, who also attended Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, is SU’s lone punter alumnus on an active NFL roster. He’s spent time with the Broncos, New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams and currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2016 with Denver, after being selected as a seventh-round pick, Dixon made the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team.

As most punters do, Dixon came out of nowhere to become a budding star.

A former quarterback at CBA, Dixon walked onto Syracuse’s roster in 2011. He didn’t travel with the team. He stayed home while the Orange traveled to Southern California, Tulane, Louisville and other places he wished he could’ve seen. He said that lit a fire under him.

“It’s an interesting way to look at it, but I think it really sparked and fueled me to want to make the team, to want to be the guy,” Dixon said of not traveling as a freshman walk-on.

William Hicks — SU football’s head of strength and conditioning from 2000-15 and now a special assistant under Brown — said the Orange’s staff knew Dixon was the team’s punter of the future when he got a surprise appearance against USC on Sept. 8, 2012.

Syracuse was battling the Trojans at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. And because USC boasted an excellent punt returner in Robert Woods, a future NFL star receiver, SU needed Dixon’s big leg. Then-head coach Doug Marrone’s staff loved Dixon’s athleticism and were struck by the punter’s menacing 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame — and the high-arcing, booming punts he’d regularly deliver.

Dixon boomed a 49-yard punt, the Orange’s longest of the day. However, then-sophomore punter Jonathan Fisher started the rest of the 2012 campaign. Marrone then left for a head-coaching job with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, and Scott Shafer took over SU’s program.

Dixon didn’t know what to do. He didn’t expect to play for Shafer, especially after failing to carve out a role under Marrone. Dixon said he’d already signed his release to transfer from Syracuse. But after meeting Shafer, Dixon promised himself he’d stay persistent.

“I was ready to leave,” Dixon said. “But I stuck it out, kept my head down and it all worked out.”

He won the Orange’s starting punter job in 2013, igniting a three-year run where he became a Syracuse fan-favorite.

“He never, ever looked back,” Hicks said of Dixon.

Riley Dixon rears back to boot a booming punt down the field in a Syracuse game at the then-Carrier Dome. Despite walking on to SU’s team in 2012, Dixon still earned All-ACC honors and ranked sixth in SU history in average yards per punt. Logan Reidsma | Daily Orange File Photo

Dixon grew a knack for executing fake punts and fake field goals — like his famous hurdle against LSU on Sept. 26, 2015, where he skied over a defender after running with the ball as the holder on a fake field-goal try. He also earned All-ACC Second-Team honors in 2015, ranking sixth in SU history with an average of 43.7 yards per punt.

He gained a quirky reputation inside Syracuse’s football facility. Because he lived 45 minutes from his home while at SU, Dixon used to hunt ducks and turkeys on Sunday mornings before showing up to the practice facility for weekend workouts. Donning jeans and a flannel T-shirt, Dixon would walk in for work dressed in his hunting gear.

“There were some times where, maybe I had to squeak home for a duck hunt and then make it back for practice, or a turkey hunt in the spring,” Dixon said with a chuckle.

Hicks said it tells you everything you need to know about Dixon’s authenticity.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody say anything but positive things about him. That’s just who he is,” Hicks said of Dixon. “He just goes about his business. He was always very popular here.”

Dixon’s story inspires Stonehouse. SU’s new punter may not spend his mornings big-game hunting, but Stonehouse said Dixon’s journey from walk-on to starter gives him and Syracuse’s future punters a clear path to follow.

“There’s only 32 NFL punters in the world,” Hicks said. “So it’s special in the fact that this is (Dixon’s) 10th year and he owes a whole lot to this place.”

But he’s been especially blessed by Dixon, who texted Stonehouse and asked to train with him in the 2023 offseason after Stonehouse transferred to Syracuse from Missouri. It’s something Dixon has done before with SU punters of the past, like future NFLer Sterling Hofrichter. With Stonehouse, though, they’ve formed a particularly close connection. Dixon saw shades of himself in Stonehouse and wanted to help guide him.

Their punting sessions typically occur in SU’s football facility and don’t include much drill work. Dixon says he prefers to “just start banging balls and see what happens.” Stonehouse appreciates his style.

“When we go out there, it’s like you’re just buds,” Stonehouse said of training with Dixon. “Two guys going out and punting; there’s really not much to it. It’s just like going out to lunch with a friend.”

Dixon said the sessions aren’t about him teaching Stonehouse — they learn from each other equally. He’s tried to emulate Stonehouse’s violent attacking ability when he strikes the ball, something he gives SU’s punter a lot of credit for. Dixon tries to give Stonehouse methods to minimize return yardage, whether that’s learning unorthodox ball-flight tricks or getting the timing right with punts to ensure gunners can get to the return man quickly.

He tells Stonehouse the art of punting is “all about gaining as much yardage as you can.” It’s not about hitting the tightest spiral or booming the furthest ball, Dixon said, but about figuring out the most creative way to keep the ball away from the returner.

Stonehouse said Dixon has shown him how to be more consistent with his drop — when a punter lets go of the ball before kicking it. He’s seen the “robotic” way Dixon can emulate each rep exactly like the previous one, and Stonehouse says he’s becoming more clinical, rather than solely focusing on power.

Dixon’s already noticed Stonehouse’s progress.

“I work with Stonehouse quite a bit — I think he’s a super-talented, really powerful kid,” Dixon said. “I look forward to seeing him take the next step in his career.”

Sure, these sessions may be casual. But Dixon ensures the two walk out having discussed every nook and cranny of their punting repertoires.

Whenever something goes unaddressed, Stonehouse just opens his phone and types.

“If I have questions, I just text him,” Stonehouse said. “He’s a good guy to have around because he’s been in the league for so long.”

For Dixon, giving back is part of what it means to represent SU. He sees the way Stonehouse works and thinks back to when he was that same kid, simply trying to punt his way to the top.

“I remember late nights in Manley Fieldhouse, I was kicking balls into the ceiling when I knew there were other people not working as hard as I was,” Dixon said. “I always wanted to go to the next level, and I always kept that sight in focus.”

Published on November 12, 2025 at 11:32 pm
Contact Cooper: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews