FORT WORTH, Texas — Editor's note: The above video is from Nov. 29, 2021, as TCU introduced Sonny Dykes as its new football coach.
No shade to longtime TCU coach Gary Patterson and the success he had running the program from 2000 until 2021, but all signs point to the Horned Frogs' latest era of football being the change-of-direction needed in Fort Worth.
It's not just the famed Hypnotoad -- or even star senior quarterback Max Duggan -- who deserves the credit, either. New head coach Sonny Dykes, who TCU poached from cross-regional rival SMU to lead its squad last year, clearly deserves some shine for the turnaround his team has shown in his first year at the helm, as well.
And, in the eyes of the national media, it seems Dykes is getting just that for taking his team to an appearance in the national title game.
Along with Duggan, who declared for the NFL Draft this week after a season in which he won about as many national awards as he possibly could've, Dykes too is swimming in honors for his team's run this season.
In all, Dykes has now earned eight major "Coach of the Year" awards.
Here's a list of all the honors Dykes has been given in recent weeks:
- Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year
- Associated Press Coach of the Year
- Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
- Walter Camp Coach of the Year
- Sporting News Coach of the Year
- Home Depot Coach of the Year
- The Stallings Award
- Big 12 Coach of the Year
Dykes' leadership also led to three of his players -- Duggan, defensive back Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson and guard Steve Avila -- being named to the AP's All-American teams, too.
Not bad for a guy who actually played baseball for three seasons in college at Texas Tech and started out as a coach in that sport after graduation. Eventually, though, Dykes would follow in the footsteps of his father -- the late Spike Dykes, the second winningest football coach in Texas Tech history, just two wins behind the late Mike Leach. The younger Coach Dykes got his first football coaching job in 1994 as an assistant at J. J. Pearce High School in the Richardson Independent School District here in North Texas.
It's no wonder, then, that Dykes' contract at TCU, just a year into its run, has already been extended through 2028. By that same token, it's perhaps no surprise that he's recruited what some believe to be TCU's highest-rated class of incoming freshman ever, and also snagged some high-profile transfers, for next season's team, too.