Pulaski County grad Cam Akers will lead the Cougars as interim head coach in 2022.

The Cougars enter the 2021 campaign with more confidence and familiarity as they open up year two of the Mark Dixon era.

Former Galax head coach Mark Dixon is in charge at Pulaski now, but even though some things are new, one thing hasn’t changed. “I love coming here every day and working hard. He’s an amazing coach, played in the NFL for 9 seasons, that’s a great accomplishment,” Cougars senior Zeke Surber said. The Cougars have been working out for a few days now, while taking every precaution mandated by the VHSL. It’s serious, pretty serious.

ROANOKE, Va. The Galax Maroon Tide has become a perennial playoff powerhouse over the last decade and they hope to keep riding that wave of success with new head coach Shane Allen. I said, If youre hiring me because you think youre getting another Coach Dixon, youre going to be disappointed and Im going to be fired.' While hes new to the position, Allen is familiar with the recent Galax tradition, having served as an assistant under former Coach Mark Dixon for three years. Coach Dixon did an amazing job of building that program and getting the ingredients to make it successful. We want to be better tomorrow than we were today, we want to be better at game 5 than game 1, game 10 than game 5.

ROANOKE, Va. When you think of Galax football, you think of a rugged, hard-working blue-collar style of play. Thats been thanks, in large part, to coach Mark Dixon who led the Maroon Tide for 10 years. As he shifts to Pulaski County, Dixon says he feels nervous as he strives to live up to the tradition-rich football program that was once led by VHSL Hall of Famer, Joel Hicks. Its trying to prepare more and understand whats at stake for the community and especially for the kids at Pulaski County, Dixon said. And the other thing is I want to make sure all these kids get to play in really big games, Dixon said.

Dublin, Va. Pulaski County has brought in another heavyweight to lead their tradition rich football program. Former UVA and NFL offensive lineman Mark Dixon takes over in Dublin. Dixon comes to the Cougars from Galax, where he compiled a staggering 101-35 mark in his ten years at the helm. Galax won six region championships in ten seasons with Dixon on the sidelines. We feel very fortunate to have a coach the caliber of Mark Dixon.

GALAX, Va. - Galax is coming off a state semi-final appearance in 2018 where they fell to Chilhowie. Coach Mark Dixon's Maroon Tide will open 2019 with 5 starters returning on each side of the ball, with their strength coming in the trenches. Galax said that sour ending to last season fueled their offseason work, and has them ready to roll in 2019. Again it comes back to having a great off-season with a lot at stake because you didn't get over the mountain," Dixon said. Galax opens at Class 2 state power Glenvar to open the season.