TCU Football: Meet Sonny Dykes (Again)

Sonny Dykes offers an impressive history of improving football programs

© Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Sonny Dykes is expected to be named the next head coach for the TCU Horned Frogs. The announcement could come as early as Sunday. Also expected to join Dykes on the move across the Metroplex are several current SMU assistant coaches. 

Since TCU parted ways with Gary Patterson last month, Dykes has been one of the leading candidates to replace the legendary coach. Frogs fans may recall that Dykes spent a season working aside Patterson in 2017. Coincidently, that was the last season TCU had a season that lived up to fans’ expectations. That season ended with TCU making it's first appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game and then another come-from-behind win in another Alamo Bowl. 

So, who is Sonny Dykes, and exactly what does he have to offer a program like TCU’s?

Well, we can look at his record at SMU, for a start. Dykes inherited a disgraced program, which had never really recovered from its 1987 “Death Penalty,” (for those buried under a rock these 35 years, SMU repeatedly violated NCAA rules and regulations by maintaining a slush fund for “under the table” payments to players and their families). SMU languished for decades, playing football of consistent quality as disgraceful as the turpitude that ruined the program in the first place, finding sole glory in its occasional defeat over TCU through the years. In Dykes’ first full season as head coach, the Mustangs went 5-7—the next season 10-3 (under his leadership, SMU has not experienced a losing season since 2018).

It goes without saying, such a turnaround is a considerable achievement, in its own way possibly as impressive as what Gary Patterson managed in his golden years from 2009 – 2017. If anything, the point could be made that Dykes had less to work with.

Then we can look further back into a highly impressive career. A cursory investigation into Dykes’ tenure as head coach at Louisiana Tech and California reveals the career of a man consistently leaving programs stronger and better than he found them. Consider Louisiana Tech between 2010 and 2012 (5-7, 8-5, 9-3, respectively). Then there is California: 1-11 in 2013, 5-7 in 2014, 8-5 in 2015, and 5-7 in 2016. It would appear that with the sole exception of California’s 2016 season, every team with Dykes at the helm improved from the one before it.

Which is exactly what TCU needs.

Expected to join Dykes, in the move, are the following current SMU assistant coaches:

• Offensive Coordinator Garrett Riley

• Running Backs Coach Ra'Shaad Samples

• Wide Receivers Coach David Guru

• Defensive Line Coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe

• Strength and Conditioning Coach Kaz Kazadi

In addition to those names, two current TCU coaches are expected to remain on staff. Those include:

• Outside Receivers Coach Malcolm Kelly

• Safeties Coach Paul Gonzales

But even if we leave aside Dykes’ impressive credentials, it is clear that he wants to be here. And surely, we should want people in positions of leadership, of any kind, who recognize how special TCU is. 

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