Done deal: TCU and football coach Sonny Dykes agree to contract extension
TCU and football coach Sonny Dykes have officially agreed to a contract extension, the Star-Telegram confirmed Friday.
Terms were not disclosed. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the news.
“I’m very excited,” Dykes said of the extension. “I love this place. It’s a very special and unique place. With my background, my dad coaching and all the different places that I’ve been, this is different. I’m fortunate to get to go to work every day and work with [athletic director] Mike Buddie. I love his approach, Chancellor [Daniel] Pullin, I have complete confidence in him and the way he’s leading the university.
“I get to be around 105 players that love each other, that are unselfish, that care and understand how special this place is. It’s really a privilege to get to do it. I’m excited to get to do it for a little bit longer and looking forward to continuing to build.”
This was an expected development after Buddie announced in February that the two sides were working on an extension. Dykes said March 24 that they were in the final stages of negotiations.
“Competing for national and Big 12 championships requires the right leadership, and Sonny has proven he’s that person,” Buddie said in a statement. “His track record on the field, his standing in the community, and the decisions he’s made to position this program to pursue those goals speak for themselves.”
It’s the second extension for Dykes since he took over for Gary Patterson at the end of the 2021 season. Dykes received an extension in December 2022 after leading the Horned Frogs to the College Football Playoff and national championship game. His contract was previously extended to 2028.
The extension comes after back-to-back nine win seasons by Dykes and the Horned Frogs. TCU finished the 2025 season 9-4 and ranked No. 25 in the final AP Top 25 after defeating USC in the Alamo Bowl.
Dykes is 36-17 in four seasons at TCU. The 36 wins since 2022 are the most in the Big 12 in that span. The next step for Dykes is to return the program to the CFP, and that will take continued investment to keep the Horned Frogs competitive from the standpoint of name, image and likeness payments and revenue sharing.
“We got a great group of donors that understand how special this place is and gives us the resources we need to go out and compete at the highest level,” Dykes said. “We still have to be great at fundraising. That’s something we’ve got to continue to do. We got to get better at [it], just like we got to get better with everything in our program.
“We just got to go out and continue to build our donor base and those relationships because those people are so important now to college football and really college athletics.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 10:53 AM.
