Bixler was a 1929 graduate of Mount Union College where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity and played guard and fullback on the football team. He started his coaching career in Canton, Ohio at Canton Central Junior High and then at Canton McKinley High School. He then became an assistant football coach at the University of Akron where he also served as head basketball coach. He died after suffering a heart attack in 1985.