TCU’s matchup against No. 16 USC in the Alamo Bowl will be a full-circle moment for Sonny Dykes and Lincoln Riley.

The opposing head coaches have known each other for decades dating back to their time at Texas Tech under Mike Leach.

“It’s great to compete against a great friend and somebody that has been great to me throughout my entire career,” Riley said Monday about Dykes. “When I was a younger coach at Texas Tech, we were both there during some great years.”

Dykes was a wide receivers coach in Lubbock from 2000-04 before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2005-06. Meanwhile, Riley was a walk-on quarterback in 2002 and then became a student assistant and graduate assistant from 2003-06.

Those years working together forged a bond that still remains strong even as they prepare to face each other at 8 p.m. Tuesday in San Antonio (ESPN).

“As Lincoln said, we’ve known each other for a long time,” Dykes said. “It’s fun when you get to play against people you admire in the profession. Lincoln obviously has had an incredible career.

“Knew he was going to be really successful when I was around him when he was a young coach. Really sharp guy. Hardworking. Very mature. Just knew he was going to be incredibly successful.”

Both are disciples of Leach and have made their mark on college football with variations of Leach’s offense. Riley led Oklahoma to multiple Big 12 championships and College Football Playoff appearances.

Dykes developed a No. 1 overall pick at California with quarterback Jared Goff, revived a dormant SMU football program and led TCU to the national championship game in 2022.

Both coaches say Leach’s willingness to trust them early in their careers played a pivotal role in their success. Leach died in 2022 at age 61 while he was the head coach at Mississippi State.

“The cool thing about Mike Leach is Mike empowered young coaches,” Dykes said. “... He gave me a ton of responsibility. I think that’s why so many guys that worked on that staff have gone on to be successful. He probably gave us more responsibility than we deserved. He believed in us. He empowered us. He gave us confidence. He did the same thing for Lincoln.”

Leach’s approach not only helped Dykes and Riley become better coaches, it also strengthened their bond, as working for Leach was a unique experience.

“It’s kind of wild, you think back to those teams, late nights in the office there at Tech, because Mike wasn’t there till about 1 in the afternoon anyway,” Riley joked. “[There] were a lot of late nights.

“To think back to those meetings, holed back in the staff room at Lubbock, Texas. It’s kind of wild that it all started there really in so many ways. Like Sonny said, Mike deserves a ton of credit because he really started something fantastic, was great for a lot of us to work for, to come up under. Yeah, then I think for all of us, there’s a sense of pride of when any of us does well, right? It is almost like its own little fraternity in a way.”

The brotherhood forged in Lubbock remained strong even when Dykes was the head coach at Cal and Riley was the offensive coordinator at East Carolina.

Even when they were across the country from each other, Dykes still made sure to look out for Riley when it was time for him to make one of the biggest jumps of his career to become the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma at 2015. Riley then became the Sooners’ head coach in 2017 when Bob Stoops retired.

“I’ll never forget, I was coaching at Cal, Bob Stoops called me and asked me about Lincoln,” Dykes said. “What do you think about this guy? I said, ‘It’s a home run. You need to hire him if you get a chance to do it.’ Obviously did a tremendous job as a coordinator there, as a head coach. It launched just a fantastic career.”

That wouldn’t be the last time the two coaches shared some type of connection during the coaching carousel. Dykes hired Riley’s younger brother Garrett to be his offensive coordinator at SMU and at TCU during the Horned Frogs’ run to the national title game.

Riley hired running backs coach Anthony Jones from Dykes’ staff after the 2023 season to help improve the Trojans’ run game.

All of those moments will make the Alamo Bowl a special occasion for both coaches. They both want to win to generate momentum for the offseason, but beyond that, it’s clear that regardless of the result, both head coaches are grateful for the chance to reunite in San Antonio.

“This for a lot of us is a full-circle moment. Being at this game brings back a lot of memories,” Riley said. “Certainly being here with Sonny and his family, all of us here together, it is a little bit surreal, to be honest. It’s been cool to see everybody’s success. Obviously that all started with Mike.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2025 at 1:49 PM.

Steven Johnson

Fort Worth Star-Telegram