Bear Down BBQ: Arizona RB Ismail Mahdi becomes co-owner of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in Tucson

Former Arizona running back Ismail Mahdi played football for most of his life. Now, he’s taking his talents to the barbecue as the co-owner of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in Tucson.

Less than a year after playing his final college football game, Mahdi is taking over the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit on Thornydale Road — one of three locations in Tucson.

“I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, so owning a business was something I’d been working toward for a long time,” Mahdi said. “The opportunity came at the perfect time in my life. Through networking and conversations with the right people, I learned the restaurant was available and everything just started to fall into place.

“From there, I went through the ownership process, including meeting with the current owners and the franchise team, reviewing the business, completing the necessary approvals and training and making sure it was the right fit. It was a process, but I knew this was an opportunity I didn’t want to pass up. I’m excited to be building something for the community.”

Mahdi added, “Being in Tucson and being around the community, there’s good people, it’s a good community and it’s a great location to bring entrepreneurship.”

Mahdi wasn’t born in Texas, but he’s a Texan through and through.

In 2003, Mahdi — one of eight children (six boys, two girls) — was born in a Somalian refugee camp in Kenya after his parents fled a war zone in Somalia. Mahdi’s family emigrated to the United States when he was nearly 1 year old. The Mahdi family name is Islamic for “the expected messiah of Muslim tradition,” according to Merriam-Webster.

“My parents made a sacrifice for me and my brothers to have a great opportunity in the U.S.,” Mahdi said last year. “They left everything behind so me, my brothers and sisters can come here and have a better life. ... My parents didn’t really speak English, so we had other people help us out for my parents to get jobs and create a better living.

“When I came here, it wasn’t about football, it was about creating a better living for my family. My dad focused on me and my brothers, working and making money so me and my family could have a good living.”

Whether you’re Texas-born or Texas-bred, “you gotta know barbecue,” Mahdi said.

“Brisket is a big thing in Texas,” he added. “The potato bakers are really good, as well. Everything in Texas is really good. They do a really good job with barbecue, so I’m trying to bring some of that to Tucson.”

When Mahdi was a second-grader, his friends and classmates convinced him to take his talents from the schoolyard field to organized football. He later starred at Plano East High School in Murphy, Texas, before starting his college career at Houston Christian in 2022. Mahdi transferred to Texas State, where he was wildly productive as a running back and kick returner.

Mahdi led FBS in all-purpose yards (2,169) in 2023 and was a two-time first-team All-Sun Belt selection. He was named a first-team All-American by CBS Sports and 247Sports in 2023. Football Writers Association of America gave Mahdi a second-team All-American nod as an all-purpose player in 2023. Mahdi ended his TSU career with 406 rushes for 2,322 yards and 14 touchdowns, along with 31 kick returns for 760 yards and a touchdown.

Arizona recruited Mahdi to Tucson for his final season, and the Dallas-area native led the Wildcats in rushing with 134 carries for 859 yards and five all-purpose touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 184-pound running back was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week following his 189-yard performance in Arizona’s 23-17 win over Kansas State in Tucson.

“That Kansas State game, that was pretty fun,” Mahdi said.

With Mahdi graduated, Arizona will be led by the senior tandem of Quincy Craig and Kedrick Reescano, who led the Wildcats with nine rushing touchdowns — the most by a UA running back since Zach Green in 2017 — with seven of Reescano's touchdowns inside the red zone.

“Man, I think they’re going to do a phenomenal job,” Mahdi said of Reescano and Craig. “Those two guys, they just want to get better every day. I competed with them every day and we pushed each other. There was no hate in that room. Everybody wanted to see everyone get better. It’s still going to be that way moving forward. Those guys, I think they’re going to be ready to go.”

It’s conceivable Mahdi could return to Arizona for another season. The NCAA is currently in a federal class action lawsuit with several collegiate athletes for the new “five-for-five” rule, which allows student-athletes up to five years of eligibility. Student-athletes’ eligibility clocks start after they start school or following their 19th birthday; however, the four-year seniors from the 2025 season aren’t grandfathered in. Two players from Arizona’s 2025 team fit the criteria to return, if they choose to pursue legal action: linebacker Max Harris and Mahdi.

“If something came down at the last minute, we’ll take those guys back in a second,” Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales told ESPN Tucson’s “Spears & Ali” earlier this month.

“The only reason that it would work, they were such good players and good leaders last year,” Gonzales said of Mahdi and Harris. “If something were to happen that would allow them to play and they get to fall camp and they’re so bad out of shape, their teammates will run their asses out of there. … Those two are watching the everyday movement of that stuff. That would be an unbelievable deal if you add those two to this football team.”

Mahdi said, “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“I’ve been so caught up in the business part of it,” added the former UA running back. “I gotta sit down and look at my options.”

If Mahdi’s last season of playing football was Arizona’s 2025 season, he has fond memories of his time as a Wildcat.

“It was great,” Mahdi said. “Coach (Brent) Brennan and the staff did a great job. There’s really good people around Tucson. … It was a great year. We had ups and downs going into the season, but Coach Brennan did a great job keeping us together. It was awesome. We had older guys, younger guys and we all bought into the ‘redline’ (motto). That’s what we preached and it was really good.”

Mahdi garnered interest from a few NFL teams after going undrafted in April, but he got injured in the process and wasn’t invited to preseason training camps, “So, I got into my entrepreneur background and ventured into that. It’s a good spot, good location, so I’m looking forward to that,” Mahdi said.

Mahdi partnered with Manny Gomez, who first met Mahdi as the owner of Integrity Auto Repair in Tucson. Gomez invited Mahdi for a podcast “and had a lot of fun with that. From there, we became friends,” Gomez said.

Gomez, who’s also an assistant football coach at Cholla High School, partnered with Mahdi to train local Tucson football players — a training program called Next Level Performance Lab. Gomez and Mahdi will now partner to lead one of the most popular Texas-based barbecue spots, which has nearly 400 locations in the U.S.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit was founded in 1941 by World War I veteran Travis Dickey in Dallas. The first location in Tucson — the one Mahdi is taking over — was opened in 2015. The date for the grand reopening will be announced on the Tucson location's Instagram page. 

"Dickey’s has a really strong reputation in Dallas because that’s where it all started," Mahdi said. "It’s been around for more than 80 years, so a lot of people in Texas grew up eating there. When people think of Texas barbecue, Dickey’s is one of the brands that comes to mind.

"The fact that there’s a Dickey’s in Dallas Love Field Airport says a lot about the brand. Airports don’t just put any restaurant in there, they want places that represent the city. Having a Dickey’s there shows it’s a well-known part of Dallas and Texas culture. That’s one of the things that attracted me to the opportunity. It’s a brand with a lot of history, and now I get the chance to bring that same tradition and quality to our community."

Mahdi said Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s rib plate is his top choice and patrons "can’t go wrong with a brisket sandwich."

"The potato baker with the brisket is really good," added Mahdi. "Everything is really good.”

Gomez said the partnership with Mahdi "has been great" and the former Arizona running back "is very driven and brings out the best in the staff."

"He jumped right in and hit the ground running," Gomez said of Mahdi. "It means a lot to have an opportunity to help Ismail grow as a business leader in Tucson. Owning other local businesses, it’s been nice being able to help communicate my experience to help mentor him."

Mahdi credited Arizona’s “Beyond Football” program, led by Arizona director of player development Tobruk Blaine, for helping his off-the-field career in his only season at the UA.

“It helped me a lot,” said Mahdi. “I’ve never been to a program that cares about players off the field. Tobruk did a really good job. I’m still talking to her to get stuff started for my business. They did a phenomenal job of helping us on the field and off the field. I really appreciate them for doing that.”

If there’s anything Mahdi carries over from the football field to the barbecue realm, “it’s communication,” he said.

"Communicating with employees and handling the ops part of it has been really busy — answering emails,” Mahdi said. “And leadership. Leading the team, that’s what it is. I have a team and I gotta lead them and I gotta keep everybody happy and keep everybody going, motivate them."

Mahdi isn’t breaking for touchdowns or catching passes out of the backfield anymore, but he’s found a new purpose in his post-playing life — one that involves burnt ends, loaded baked potatoes and brisket sandwiches. And he gets to do it in a place he has called home for the last 18-plus months.

“Man it’s awesome,” Mahdi said. “Great people who support the community and want to come out and support everybody. Everybody supports everybody. That’s what I love about it. … The community gave so much to me, so now it’s time to give back.”