SMU football’s Sonny Dykes addresses TCU’s coaching job with his team
SMU coach Sonny Dykes has steered clear of much TCU talk in recent days.
Dykes didn’t address it during his weekly radio show on Monday night, and said he was “good” without commenting on it during his media availability on Tuesday. But Dykes revealed that he has spoken with his players about reports of him becoming TCU’s top target.
“I think there was enough noise where it became necessary, so I talked to them,” Dykes said, according to The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday. “That’s what we have to do as coaches. Again, the good thing is we’re always truthful with each other.”
SMU offensive lineman Hayden Howerton appreciated Dykes’ message to the team, although nothing definitive came out of the meeting.
“At the end of the year, we all will see what happens,” Howerton said. “He didn’t give one way or the other, and I’m OK with that. At least he was honest with us about it, not lying. He’s got to look at his options. Being a fifth-year [player], I don’t blame him.”
Dykes, 52, has emerged as the top target for TCU, sources have told the Star-Telegram. Dykes was on the Fort Worth campus last week, according to a source, and the feeling is there is enough mutual interest between both parties that a deal will get done shortly after SMU’s regular-season finale against Tulsa on Saturday, sources said.
Dykes has been viewed as a top candidate for the TCU job since it opened on Oct. 31, the day TCU and longtime coach Gary Patterson parted ways.
On his desired wish list, TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said he’d like a sitting head coach with an offensive background who has a familiarity with today’s age of college athletics with players being able to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL) as well as how to navigate the ever-growing NCAA transfer portal.
Dykes meets all of those requirements.
Dykes’ first head coaching stint was at Louisiana Tech from 2010-12, a stretch that included a WAC championship in 2011. He then moved to Cal from 2013-16 where his highlights included defeating Texas twice and developing current Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who became the top overall pick of the Los Angeles Rams in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Dykes spent the 2017 season as an offensive analyst under Patterson at TCU before taking over at SMU in 2018. The Mustangs are 30-17 and have been ranked in the Top 25 a total of 19 weeks under Dykes. TCU, meanwhile, is 23-23 over that same span and has been ranked for only five weeks and has failed to appear in the Top 25 the past two seasons.
But Dykes is just 3-7 against Top 25 opponents and has drawn the ire of some fans for his 6-8 record in November during his time at SMU. TCU, meanwhile, went 3-6 against ranked teams under Patterson since 2018.
At the end of the day, TCU isn’t deterred by those numbers. Instead, the Frogs see what Dykes has done in turning SMU around and putting together one of the top offenses in the country.
SMU is ranked 13th in total offense this season. It was the 12th-best offense in 2020 and the ninth-best in 2019. Plus, Dykes has shown savvy in navigating the transfer portal.
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 10:41 AM.
