Hailing from West Bloomfield, Mich., a Detroit suburb nestled between the two in-state schools – Ann Arbor some 30 miles to the south, East Lansing some 70 to the west – Lance Dixon is now getting comfortable with his new surroundings at Penn State.

When he took the field at Beaver Stadium in April for the annual spring game, he did so wearing a blue jersey as the only early-enrollee freshman on the first-unit defense. He’s already making moves toward a significant role with the Nittany Lions, a team that he once seemed destined to square off against, wearing either green and white or maize and blue.

Michigan State was the first major program to offer Dixon a scholarship. Then he developed close connections to Michigan. He was quite literally being groomed for a role within the Wolverines’ defense during the latter portion of his high school career. After beginning as a safety, Dixon switched to outside linebacker, the position for which he was recruited, ahead of his junior season. Under head coach Ron Bellamy, who played for Michigan in the early 2000s, West Bloomfield ran a replica of the Wolverines’ defense. Dixon was his Viper.

“You could move him around, blitz him, cover him, let him do whatever he’s doing,” Bellamy said. “When he learned the nuances of playing linebacker – reading the inside guard if it’s a run play or [noticing that] a tackle blocking down [means] a different type of run play – he played so much faster. It was unbelievable.”

At Michigan, the Viper position has featured the likes of Jabrill Peppers and is now manned by Khaleke Hudson. It gives players the freedom to improvise and make splash plays. Dixon showed at West Bloomfield that he was a natural fit at the Viper spot, and he was honored as USA Today’s Michigan Defensive Player of the Year following his senior season.

On the surface, it seemed likely that he would stay home and play a more advanced version of the position for the Wolverines. But Michigan’s coaches didn’t see the future quite the same way. At least not initially.

“I think that was the most pivotal part of his recruitment: ‘You guys are local. You guys have seen me practice. I’ve been to your camps multiple times, but this school in Pennsylvania offered me before you guys did,’” Bellamy said. “We try to tell the kids, don’t knock other programs, don’t totally disregard them based on who offers you first. It’s all about a fit from an academic and social standpoint and football standpoint. When you check the boxes, pros and cons, you find out which school is the best of you, not who offered first. We took visits to all three institutions, and Penn State came out on top.”

While Michigan State extended its offer at the start of Dixon’s junior season, Penn State came through a few months later, followed by Michigan. By that time, Dixon had already attended the Lions’ White Out victory over Michigan in Beaver Stadium. He had also formed a better relationship with James Franklin and defensive coordinator Brent Pry, along with safeties coach and fellow Detroit native Tim Banks, than he had with the coaches at the Michigan schools.

Convinced that he could play a similar freelancing role in PSU’s defense at the Sam outside linebacker spot, Dixon envisioned a chance to parlay his high school training into excellence at the college level.

He also bought into the potential for classroom achievement and community involvement, staples of Franklin’s program. Dixon gave back in various ways throughout his high school career. He volunteered in two mentor groups within his school district and helped younger students organize their schedules and form strong study habits. He also monitored their grades – all while being a friend and offering a shoulder to lean on.

“This is a kid who is a big-time recruit, who has a lot going for himself, and for him to want to be a part of these programs, it requires time, his time, which is very little, especially for someone who at the time was early enrolling,” Bellamy said. “It speaks volumes about his character.”

Dixon served as a team captain during his senior year. Bellamy doesn’t describe him as a big talker or a rah-rah guy. In fact, the coach and his assistants nicknamed Dixon “the Quiet Assassin.”

During his short tenure at Penn State, he has exhibited that same mindset. It was partly responsible for boosting him into a role with the Blue team in the spring game last month.

“That was a blessing for him and it was great,” Bellamy said. “That was his goal.”

It was also just the start.