Exclusive: TCU football coach Sonny Dykes sheds light on transfer portal class
While some teams prioritized making a splash in the transfer portal, TCU football took a different route to finalize its 2026 roster.
The Horned Frogs brought in only 12 transfers this cycle, the second-fewest in the Big 12 and fewer than all but seven Power Four teams.
That was all by design, head coach Sonny Dykes said in an exclusive interview with the Star-Telegram.
He prioritized retaining most of the core from this season’s 9-4 team that finished ranked No. 25 in the AP poll over trying to bring in a swarm of new players.
The Horned Frogs lost only one full-time starter to the portal and only three others who played significant snaps this season. In the Big 12, only Kansas and Houston had fewer players with meaningful snaps enter the portal.
Dykes said those numbers are a sign of the strength of the culture in Fort Worth.
“I think it says a lot about TCU,” Dykes said. “Our players have a good experience going to school here. They love Fort Worth. They like living here. I think the guys like each other. I think there’s a good culture in our program. I think that they believe they’re getting developed and improving.
“I think they believe we have a chance to compete and win championships. I think it also means we’re competitive with what we have with our rev share and NIL perspective.”
TCU believes in the receivers it has
The approval of the House settlement last year introduced revenue sharing to college football this offseason, as players receive a portion of revenue directly from the university now on top of deals they can still receive to license their name, image and likeness.
As different schools have navigated this new frontier and decided how they want to spend their funds, Dykes has long believed that TCU would be best served as a developmental program. Recruit high school players, spend money to keep them here and then plug holes on the roster when needed in the transfer portal.
Receiver is one great example of TCU’s approach. The Horned Frogs needed to replace All-American Eric McAlister and reliable slot receiver Joseph Manjack this offseason.
Most programs would have brought in multiple receivers, but the Horned Frogs only signed one, South Alabama’s Jeremy Scott. Why? Because not only did Dykes retain TCU’s second-leading receiver in Jordan Dwyer, the program also believes in young players like Terry Shelton and Dozie Ezukanma.
“We needed to keep Jordan here, which we were able to do,” Dykes said. “I thought it was really important. Having experience and having somebody that’s played and been very productive like Jordan was an important thing we were able to do.
“But we’ve also got some of these young players to develop and step up. We felt like between the high school players that we added [this offseason], the high school players we signed last year, we feel like we have enough talent in the room for it to become a really good room.”
While it may not draw the same headlines as landing a former big-name recruit from Texas or Auburn, in many ways the re-signing of Dwyer is just as significant.
Finding their quarterback
The one full-time starter that left was quarterback Josh Hoover, who committed to newly crowned national champion Indiana early in the process. Replacing a quarterback isn’t easy and is often very expensive, but the Horned Frogs quickly identified Hoover’s replacement with Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig.
Craig was one of TCU’s first transfer portal signees and brings plenty of experience and production. Craig led Harvard to the FCS playoffs and owns most of the school’s passing records.
“He was the guy that we got the tape early, and we just thought he fit what we were going to do offensively,” Dykes said. “We were looking for an older starter that had a ton of experience. He played a lot of games. Was very productive. We needed somebody to be a mature leader. We felt like we needed to get a little bit more athletic at that position, maybe than we have been. We think he’s got an opportunity to be a better runner than we’ve had the last couple of years.”
Dykes credited new offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis for helping to close the deal on Craig’s recruitment. Sammis replaced former coordinator Kendal Briles and will run a more pro-style offense that fits Craig’s skill set.
“The first time I got him on the phone and had a chance to talk to him, I was like, ‘Oh, man, this is the guy,’” Dykes said. “We got to figure out a way to make this happen. And so I think everybody was a great collective effort. I thought Gordy did a great job of getting on the phone with him and recruiting him. And thought we did a really good job when he got on campus and he felt comfortable.”
Craig will be a senior next season.
Reloading the trenches
Another area the Horned Frogs did well in during the portal was on the offensive and defensive line. On offense the Horned Frogs aded Oklahoma State transfer Noah McKinney and Florida International transfer Jaheim Buchanon. TCU starting guard Cade Bennett also received an extra year of eligibility and opted to remain in Fort Worth.
McKinney was one of Oklahoma State’s best offensive players, while Buchanon was an all-conference selection this season. Combine that with Bennett, and TCU will have three players on the interior of its offensive line with starting experience.
“We really liked our tackles, but we needed more experience on the interior,” Dykes said. “We love the young group of lineman, but we needed some experience with some guys that have played. We’re fired up about the group we added and think it’s going to create a ton of competition.”
Defensively, TCU didn’t lose a single defensive tackle and re-signed key players in Markis Deal and Ansel Din-Mbuh. At edge rusher, the program brings back Zach Chapman and was able to convince Paul Oyewale to not enter the portal despite a push from his agency.
The Horned Frogs also added Koron Hayward from Western Kentucky and Cheta Ofili from Texas Tech to add depth and compete at stud, TCU’s hybrid linebacker/edge rusher position.
Dykes previously said he believed the offensive and defensive lines could be the strength of the program, and that may be the case in 2026.
“Offensive and defensive linemen can be very expensive, and I think retaining your own guys is absolutely critical,” Dykes said. “Because you know exactly what you’re getting, you know what those guys are capable of. I just believe retaining players is incredibly important, and those guys having the same coaches and having the same approach and the same consistency and the developmental phase, I think is really, really important.”
Upgrading the secondary
Another strength of TCU’s transfer portal haul was in its secondary. The Horned Frogs added Louisiana Tech safety Jacob Fields, who was voted co-Defensive Player of the Year in Conference USA. TCU also landed Kalen Carroll from Central Michigan and Teon Parks from Colorado.
Both players have starting experience and at the very least will provide depth to push returning cornerbacks Vernon Glover and Gil Jackson. Fields is viewed as a plug-and-play replacement for All-Big 12 safety Bud Clark, one of the best defenders in program history.
“We needed to replace a lot of experience. Bud has played a lot of football for us,” Dykes said. “We needed to sign some corners and create competition in that room, which I think was very, very important. And so we got some guys that are very experienced, have been really, really productive and have played a lot of football.”
In all, TCU founds its next quarterback, upgraded its offensive line and secondary and brought back its entire defensive front.
It’s not as flashy as bringing in 30 transfers, but Dykes doesn’t mind TCU’s portal haul flying under the radar.
“I think we’re really fortunate,” Dykes said. “I think we came out of here with exactly what we set out to do. I think our scouting and player personnel did an incredible job. We brought in guys that checked all the boxes.”
