TCU football assistant Doug Meacham opens up on transitioning to Sonny Dykes’ staff
Doug Meacham didn’t take long to explain why he stayed with TCU football amid the coaching change from Gary Patterson to Sonny Dykes.
“I was tired of moving,” Meacham said, smiling.
And, at age 57 and being a veteran in the coaching industry since 1988, Meacham wasn’t overly concerned about taking a “demotion.” He went from being offensive coordinator and play-caller under Patterson last season to being an inside receivers coach under Dykes this season.
Meacham is familiar with TCU’s new offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley, as the two worked together at Kansas in 2017-18. Meacham served as KU’s offensive coordinator those seasons with Riley being the quarterbacks coach in 2017 and tight ends/fullbacks coach in 2018.
“When I looked at it as a whole, just being here at the front end of this deal and knowing what kind of guy Sonny is, knowing what kind of guy Garrett Riley is, some of the best people you’ll ever be around,” Meacham said. “I’ve called plays for 100 million years. It’s really not that important to me. It’s just fun to work with really good people and learn from Garrett Riley, learn his nuances and things that he does, and kind of marry some of the things that I’ve done. That’s just fun.
“And really just be around the kids I had last year and just stay in Fort Worth. I love Fort Worth.”
Meacham, an Arlington Sam Houston product, is in his second stint with TCU. He worked under Patterson from 2014-16 as the co-offensive coordinator alongside Sonny Cumbie. The Frogs had one of the country’s top offenses in that stretch, highlighted by consecutive top-10 finishes in 2014 (No. 3 in the country) and 2015 (No. 7 in the country).
Meacham departed to become Kansas’ offensive coordinator before rejoining Patterson for the 2020 season as inside receivers coach. He took over play-calling duties from Cumbie that season and was promoted to the OC role in 2021.
Meacham didn’t have anything bad to say about his time under Patterson, calling him a legendary coaching figure who rightfully has a statue outside of Amon G. Carter Stadium. But he’s now part of the new era under Dykes.
It’s a sensitive topic for Meacham as TCU wraps up its spring season with the spring game tonight.
“(Patterson) is a legend. He’s got a statue. He won a billion games,” Meacham said. “I’m here now so I’m for what we’re doing now and that’s all there is to it. What we did? We had some great years and all of that stuff. We’re moving forward. He’s moving forward. I think you start trying to compare to what was happening here, it’s a lose-lose.”
For Meacham, there’s different ways to run football programs. None are wrong as long as it produces wins on Saturdays.
“Just a different vibe at practice. I’m not saying it’s better or anything, it’s just different and I think the kids are having a little more fun,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, have fun or not fun, you better win. That goes for everybody, no matter what your method is. We can have a good time, but we’ve got to win. That’s what it’s all about — winning championships. Our method is now to do it this way and we’re going to see how it works.”
Meacham went on to say that practices under Dykes are “a little bit less abrasive, but there’s nothing wrong with an abrasive style.”
“It’s ... a little more teaching and a little bit more of trying to cultivate having fun,” he said. “At the same time getting what you want out of it. Not making it complete drudgery, which when I played that’s just what it was. Your reward was game day. That was it.
“It was a different day and age, so you’ve got to create ways to get them to go full speed where they’re enjoying themselves but at the same time getting something out of it and progressing.”
As far as the offense, Meacham is excited for TCU to return to a true “Air Raid” system. Meacham felt the Frogs shifted to a more traditional, Power Read offense the last couple of seasons with an emphasis on running the ball with Jerry Kill overseeing the offense for Patterson.
Now it’s back to opening it up and airing it out.
“The last two years I wouldn’t classify us as Air Raid. We were doing kind of what we had, we’re in Power Read, play action, it was more traditional offense,” Meacham said. “When I was here before, that was Air Raid. I think we’re going to be a little bit more of that than we’ve been. And we’re going to run the ball. When I was here before in the Air Raid, we rushed for 200-something a game. When you walked away from the game, though, it wouldn’t feel like we did.
“You’re in the fastest track state in the country. The 100 meter and 200 meters are national records. Let’s get speed on the field and sling it around and have fun and win games.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
