TCU football has more accountability these days, senior center Steve Avila says
Accountability.
That’s the biggest difference Steve Avila has seen this offseason amid TCU football’s coaching transition from Gary Patterson to Sonny Dykes. Avila spent four seasons in the program under Patterson and just completed his first spring season under Dykes.
Asked if there is more accountability, specifically in the weight room, Avila didn’t hesitate in saying: “For sure. Our strength coach (Kaz Kazadi), the first thing he did when he came in here was having emphasis on discipline.
“It was tough to swallow because we didn’t really have a lot of that before. Now you see guys being held accountable. No one is scared to get on to someone and that was good to see as a player as someone that has been here for five years. It’s nice to see that change.”
For Avila and the rest of the program, the hope is the shift in methods from Patterson to Dykes translates into more wins on Saturdays. Avila was a redshirt freshman when the Frogs played in their last bowl game, a 10-7 overtime victory in the then-Cheez-It Bowl in 2018.
TCU has since had two losing seasons (2019 and 2021) and had to pull out of the 2020 Texas Bowl amid COVID issues.
But Avila feels the program is headed in the right direction, dubbing the spring as a success.
“We’ve definitely gotten a lot better,” Avila said. “We have a lot of goals that we have written on the board that we still need to get to, but there’s a lot of things indirectly that we’ve fixed. As long as we touch up on the things that we have on the board, and we get to what we need to do, look at film and look at stuff we need to work on, emphasize those things, then it’ll be awesome.”
Avila wants to end his college career on a high note. He started 11 games at center last season, and started nine games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He played a reserve role in 11 games during 2019.
Avila worked mostly at center throughout the spring but also received reps at guard.
“I would like to play more guard just to expand my resume for the next level if that’s an option for me,” said Avila, who joined the program as a four-star prospect out of South Grand Prairie.
“I feel like it will expand my resume but I don’t really have a preference.”
At the end of the day, Avila is all-in on whatever returns TCU to being a winning program again. He has enjoyed working with the new staff and even likes what he’s seen from a defensive standpoint.
Avila compared true freshman defensive tackle Damonic Williams to former Frog Ross Blacklock, a second-round pick by the Houston Texans in 2020. Avila also feels facing defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie’s 3-3-5 scheme on a daily basis will pay off in the long run too.
“A lot of teams have switched to three-down and I feel like us switching to three-down is very beneficial,” Avila said. “Obviously that’s what we’re going to see.”
TCU opens the 2022 season at Colorado on Friday, Sept. 2 in Boulder.
