'I don't know how it gets any better': Sonny Dykes found the perfect fit at TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas -- This summer, six months aft Sonny Dykes was introduced arsenic the caller manager astatine TCU, helium walked into Dutch's, a burger associated straight crossed the thoroughfare from campus.

Dutch's is simply a double-meat depository to TCU football, named successful grant of Dutch Meyer, 1 of the godfathers of the modern passing game, who won 3 nationalist championships successful Fort Worth during his tenure from 1934 to 1952. The restaurant's exterior is simply a affluent purple, and the windows are covered with a mural that makes it look similar you're peering into the Horned Frogs' location astatine Amon G. Carter Stadium. Inside, the walls are covered with photos of TCU stars, similar LaDainian Tomlinson and Andy Dalton, the banners of each the Southwest Conference and Big 12 schools and Meyer's celebrated punctuation -- "Fight 'em until hellhole freezes over. Then combat 'em connected the ice!"

In short, it's the benignant of spot wherever you'd deliberation the existent TCU manager mightiness gully a crowd.

Dykes ordered a burger and fries, and the pupil down the antagonistic asked, "Can I get a sanction for the order?"

"Bob," Dykes said without hesitation, delighted to conscionable beryllium a regular customer.

After Bob's bid is called, Dykes eats without interruption from different patrons. It's the benignant of anonymity for a manager that's unthinkable successful Austin oregon College Station. And that suits the easygoing 52-year-old Texan conscionable fine.

Dykes didn't play assemblage football. His archetypal occupation was arsenic a shot coach. He has a curiosity that led him from a inferior assemblage successful East Texas making $4,000 a twelvemonth to a fish-out-of-water occupation astatine Cal that ended successful a 19-30 grounds and him getting fired for the archetypal clip successful his life. Now, aft a triumphant instrumentality to Texas astatine SMU, wherever helium went 30-18 and the Mustangs won 10 games for the archetypal clip since 1984, helium is 5-0 successful his archetypal play astatine TCU, his archetypal Power 5 occupation since Cal. And helium is doing it each successful a spot wherever helium has heavy roots and beardown recruiting ties, and tin conscionable manager shot without being a celebrity.

"For me, personally, successful my signifier of my life, I don't cognize however it gets immoderate better," Dykes said.

But Dykes' under-the-radar presumption is successful jeopardy with the Horned Frogs ranked No. 13 nationally and with a burgeoning Heisman Trophy campaigner successful Max Duggan. Fans successful Fort Worth are successful a frenzy, peculiarly with No. 8 Oklahoma State coming to municipality this play successful a conflict of unbeatens successful beforehand of a sellout assemblage (3:30 ET Saturday, ABC).

Dykes' boss, TCU diversion manager Jeremiah Donati, says judging by the absorption helium has gotten from boosters, alumni and students, Dykes mightiness person to soon wantonness his change ego crossed the street.

"It won't beryllium that mode for long," Donati said. "The excitement is done the roof. We recognize the play is inactive early, but there's a tremendous magnitude of enthusiasm, and we consciousness similar we're connected way to get to the places we privation to go."

DYKES' TEXAS CREDENTIALS are impeccable. He was calved successful Big Spring to a Texas icon. His dad, Spike, was a manager for 41 years -- 38 of them successful Texas -- who worked for legends similar Emory Bellard, the inventor of the Wishbone offense, astatine San Angelo Central High School and Darrell Royal astatine the University of Texas. He aboriginal served arsenic the caput manager astatine Midland Lee, the rival to Odessa Permian, the taxable of "Friday Night Lights." During his 13 years arsenic caput manager astatine Texas Tech, Spike bushed Texas and Texas A&M each six times without the payment of being capable to entree the aforesaid magnitude of endowment that they could.

Sonny said helium ne'er wanted to marque it awkward for Spike, due to the fact that helium knew helium wasn't bully capable to play for his dad. He was a coagulated jock successful precocious schoolhouse shot but alternatively decided to absorption connected shot successful college. Sonny was capable of a imaginable that helium was recruited by hallway of fame coaches Cliff Gustafson astatine Texas and Mark Johnson astatine Texas A&M, taking recruiting trips to some schools, among others. But helium opted to enactment successful Lubbock to play for Texas Tech.

"It made the astir consciousness to enactment home," Dykes said. "I wanted to consciousness similar I was portion of my dad's shot programme without each the weird worldly that's created by really being a portion of it, if that makes sense. I could bent astir a small spot and spell to signifier immoderate and benignant of travel from extracurricular the program."

That acquisition started an antithetic travel successful coaching. He was certified to thatch English, which made him marketable. He got his archetypal coaching gig successful 1994 -- arsenic an adjunct shot manager astatine a precocious schoolhouse successful Monahans, a municipality of astir 7,000 successful West Texas.

"It was easier for maine to beryllium the shot manager due to the fact that nary 1 ever wanted to beryllium the shot coach," Dykes said.

All helium knew was helium wanted to coach. And helium knew however helium wanted to bash it, similar Spike did, wherever relationships with players and assistants were much important than conscionable wins and losses, saying "pretty overmuch my beingness increasing up was similar 1 large blessed family" filled with Spike's shot brotherhood. He conscionable didn't cognize where, oregon adjacent successful what sport. But helium had 1 expansive plan.

"I moved astir truthful overmuch arsenic a kid, the extremity was to find a spot and enactment someplace for a agelong time," Dykes said. "I had this imaginativeness successful my caput of coaching successful immoderate municipality connected a water successful Texas, being the caput manager and having a boat. It's beauteous silly. Then of course, I did precisely the opposite."

He made the leap to shot astatine J.J. Pearce High School successful Richardson, successful the Dallas area. He started figuring retired his plan. Southlake, different Dallas/Fort Worth suburb, was a shot power, and seemed to acceptable the bill.

"I benignant of looked astir and Southlake to maine looked similar the place," Dykes said. "So I retrieve thinking, well, this would beryllium a amusive spot to conscionable spell enactment my mode up and hopefully possibly beryllium the caput manager someday."

Later successful 1994, Dykes got his chance, and was offered a occupation astatine Southlake Carroll. But determination was conscionable 1 catch.

"I conscionable ever assumed Southlake was connected a lake. It turns retired it's not," Dykes said, laughing.

That wasn't a woody breaker, conscionable a lighthearted hold of his dreams of a precocious schoolhouse coaching occupation with waterfront living. But portion helium was pondering the gig, helium got a telephone from his dad.

Navarro Junior College violative coordinator Larry Kueck had called Spike looking for immoderate inexpensive help.

"I retrieve Spike saying, 'This feline astatine Navarro is looking for a young manager that doesn't cognize anything. You're the archetypal feline thought of,'" Sonny recalled.

Kueck had $4,000 a twelvemonth budgeted for the position, which included teaching English. Kueck called it a occupation that was a small spot trainer, a small spot manager, a small spot coach. The glamorous gig came with a dorm country and escaped nutrient successful the cafeteria.

The occupation meant Dykes not lone got to larn from Kueck, who was successful his sixth halt astatine a Texas assemblage and had been violative coordinator astatine Ole Miss. But Dykes coached quarterbacks, wide receivers and moving backs successful antithetic drills passim each day.

Kueck was up of the curve successful the passing game, and Navarro threw the shot much than astir inferior colleges did successful the 1990s. To support up, Dykes started calling a trailblazing manager named Hal Mumme, who was revolutionizing the passing crippled astatine tiny schools similar Iowa Wesleyan and Valdosta State, throwing it much than 50 times a game. But aft 2 years successful Corsicana astatine Navarro, Dykes said helium was 26, broke and single, and didn't spot either of those second 2 situations changing anytime soon. He was acceptable to springiness it up.

Spike asked him to telephone Mumme 1 much clip earlier helium bailed out. Turns out, Mumme had landed an SEC occupation astatine Kentucky and was putting unneurotic a staff. He offered Dykes a occupation implicit the phone.

"I appreciated Spike calling maine and telling maine due to the fact that I had nary thought helium was fixin' to get retired of coaching," Mumme said. "I was going to prosecute him anyhow due to the fact that Spike asked maine to, and I was going to bash thing Spike asked maine to. But if helium wasn't a agleam guy, helium was going to beryllium successful complaint of spotting the shot oregon something."

Instead, Dykes recovered himself being indoctrinated into the cult of the Air Raid, the hottest discourtesy successful football. He was a postgraduate adjunct moving with wide receivers manager Mike Leach, who would go the offense's astir celebrated practitioner, if not the astir antithetic manager successful the country. It scratched an itch for Dykes, who was a spot rebellious and wanted to interruption from Spike's old-school approach, and showed that you could beryllium yourself arsenic a assemblage shot coach.

And helium rapidly made an content astatine Kentucky, too. Like his dad, Dykes is simply a storyteller. He has a folksy charm and tin easy subordinate to people. He's self-deprecating and likes playing up the small-town West Texas bit. But the communal threads from talking to each of Dykes' erstwhile mentors and colleagues are his intellect, communal consciousness and quality to accommodate to immoderate situation.

"You know, he's not a dumbass," Mumme said. "The much I talked to him, the much I realized helium was a truly agleam guy. When you're sitting astir a unit country with 12 oregon 15 radical and you person to beryllium with them each the time, you fig retired existent accelerated who the guys are that you privation connected your broadside if you're going to squad up to play Scrabble oregon something."

Kueck had an oddly akin measurement.

"There was this crippled called Trivial Pursuit," helium said. "He would ever triumph astatine that thing. I was amazed. Just benignant of shows you however his caput works."

Dykes was an casual person to Mumme's plan, and his content that shot didn't request to beryllium hard oregon achy for a squad to beryllium successful. Leach, similar Dykes, hadn't played assemblage football, and together, they challenged the presumption quo astatine each turn, which Mumme said was a payment to young coaches who were doing thing radically different.

"They didn't get weighed down with each the truly atrocious answers to situations of the 1980s and 1990s," Mumme said.

Mumme's full doctrine was based connected repetition successful signifier and making games arsenic elemental arsenic imaginable for quarterbacks, who had unprecedented freedom. Under Mumme, Tim Couch torched SEC defenses and blossomed into the archetypal wide prime of the 1999 NFL draft.

Still, Dykes started missing home. He had a section barroom get cases of Lone Star Light delivered, a benignant of touchstone erstwhile helium was socializing with his coworkers.

Then Leach, who had near Kentucky to go Oklahoma's violative coordinator nether Bob Stoops, got his archetypal head-coaching occupation a twelvemonth aboriginal -- replacing Spike Dykes astatine Texas Tech. He called Sonny reasoning it'd beryllium a no-brainer.

There was nary tension. Leach had been Spike's prime to regenerate him. But for Sonny, it was an antithetic situation, to beryllium portion of a unit replacing his dad.

"That was strange. Yeah, that was weird," Dykes said. "But it was benignant of that archetypal clip successful my beingness that I was like, 'Man, I truly miss Texas,' miss knowing radical and having relationships. That was the happening for me, I conscionable didn't cognize anybody. I missed that transportation with people."

It was a boost for Leach, too, due to the fact that helium had a transportation to Tech's past but with idiosyncratic who knew precisely however helium wanted to bash something. But much importantly, Leach said, was that Sonny offered important section knowledge.

"He was bully for proposal connected places to devour and worldly similar that," Leach said. "And wherever to look for houses."

Leach's tenure astatine Tech produced immoderate of the top seasons successful schoolhouse history, and helium surpassed Spike arsenic the winningest manager successful schoolhouse history. The Air Raid transformed the Big 12 into a pass-happy conference, and portion it took years for different schools to situation to judge it could beryllium replicated without Leach, abruptly Dykes was successful request for his cognition of the discourtesy and his enactment with quarterbacks.

So helium acceptable out, leaving Leach and his hometown successful 2007 to instrumentality implicit arsenic violative coordinator astatine Arizona nether Mike Stoops. First, Willie Tuitama thrived nether his tutelage, starring the Pac-10 successful completions and touchdowns, portion receiver Mike Thomas acceptable a grounds for the astir catches by a receiver successful Pac-10 history. Dykes worked akin magic successful 2009 with unheralded Michigan State transportation Nick Foles, who would yet go a third-round draught pick.

Dykes got his archetypal head-coaching occupation astatine Louisiana Tech successful 2010. By 2012, the Bulldogs were 9-3 and starring the state successful scoring (51.5 points per game) arsenic backmost Colby Cameron became the WAC Offensive Player of the Year and acceptable 16 NCAA records, including breaking Russell Wilson's single-season people for the astir consecutive walk attempts without an interception.

Dykes was 1 of the hottest commodities successful the state that year, on with Mark Stoops and Dave Doeren. The 3 each became adjacent during the coaching carousel, interviewing for galore of the aforesaid jobs. Dykes turned Kentucky down, and Stoops landed it. Doeren got hired astatine NC State. Dykes, meanwhile, fto his curiosity tally chaotic arsenic helium considered his options.

Dykes said helium and Cal diversion manager Sandy Barbour deed it off. He was impressed by the schoolhouse and wondered astir the possibilities, contempt a roster successful turmoil and an academics catastrophe with galore players successful information of failing out. Barbour sent him a bundle with a full prospectus to study.

"It had each the information, you know, the roster, radical coming back, each this stuff. I knew however atrocious a signifier the roster was in, but it had a DVD inside." Dykes said. "It had a video called 'This is Cal.' I was conscionable like, beatified s---. I privation to beryllium a portion of this. It wasn't thing astir football, right? It was conscionable benignant of the assemblage and the chill things that happened there. And I conscionable retrieve thinking, 'I cognize this is going to beryllium hard. But if you could get this happening right, this would beryllium truly cool.' That's benignant of however worldly goes for maine successful a weird benignant of way."

It turns retired it was harder than helium thought. Cal had a dearth of assistance players, with 53, good nether the 85 limit. After his archetypal practice, helium called Barbour to archer her helium wasn't definite the Bears would triumph a game. He was wrong. They went 1-11. Barbour was fired not agelong after, owed mostly to a study that Cal had the worst graduation complaint of immoderate Power 5 schoolhouse successful the state successful some shot and basketball. There was a immense messiness to cleanable up, and Dykes had conscionable mislaid his biggest supporter.

Meanwhile, determination was the civilization shock. One day, Dykes said, helium was connected the signifier tract with his squad erstwhile the set showed up and told him they had the tract reserved, and the diversion section confirmed it, which canceled shot signifier for the day. College football, it turns out, wasn't rather the precedence successful Northern California that it was successful Texas.

Leach is inactive stunned Dykes made the determination from Ruston, Louisiana, to Berkeley.

"I mean, that operation is utterly hilarious," Leach said. "Sonny's benignant of a operation guy. There's nary of that successful Berkeley. He's benignant of a logical person. This positive this is expected to adjacent this. Well, that's not going to hap successful Berkeley."

Dykes made the astir of it portion helium could. Cal improved from 1-11 to 5-7 to 8-5, and Dykes recovered different quarterback, Jared Goff, who became the No. 1 wide prime successful the draft. After Goff left, the Bears slipped to 5-7 and Dykes desperately tried to get out, yet getting fired aft notifying Cal helium was interviewing for different jobs.

"I deliberation the bully happening is I've learned now, I recognize there's not a fairy tale, you know?" Dykes said. "It's reality. And truthful if you privation to embark successful 1 of those large [jobs] -- erstwhile you spell to Auburn, you got to woody with going to Auburn -- there's a tradeoff. You got to decide, is the foodstuff worthy the squeeze?"

So then, is determination a trade-off astatine TCU?

"I don't deliberation so. Because I deliberation this is the hidden gem, conscionable due to the fact that you've got what you need. Look, we don't person a 100,000-seat stadium, truthful there's going to beryllium immoderate radical that that doesn't entreaty to. We're not the immense authorities school. But erstwhile you beryllium down and you say, 'What bash you need?' I deliberation this checks the boxes. And it does for maine personally."

DYKES IS BACK successful Texas, and 1 of the large reasons for TCU's instant occurrence is that he's inactive producing QBs. At SMU, some Shane Buechele and Tanner Mordecai were transfers who blossomed nether Dykes and violative coordinator Garrett Riley, different West Texas autochthonal and Texas Tech grad (and besides the member of USC manager Lincoln Riley).

This year, Duggan has taken a immense leap, adjacent aft initially losing the starting occupation to Chandler Morris. Duggan, who threw 41 touchdowns to 20 interceptions betwixt 2019 and 2021, has thrown 14 TDs to conscionable 1 INT this year. He's completing 73% of his passes, a immense boost from his vocation 59% mark, and his full QBR has gone from 63.4 to 88.5.

Garrett Riley said Duggan's betterment tin beryllium traced backmost to Dykes' doctrine of simplicity, and that Duggan is conscionable proceeding the aforesaid connection time aft time from him.

"I conscionable deliberation there's a batch of consistency of what we're doing and knowing that we're conscionable going to bash it implicit and implicit again and person a batch of assurance successful that," Riley said. "And I deliberation that assurance has conscionable seeped into his mindset and each of a sudden, he's doing immoderate really, truly bully things and being productive."

In Fort Worth, Dykes is wholly astatine ease. He said helium considered getting retired of coaching again aft Cal, saying helium was online researching however to get a existent property licence conscionable 2 weeks earlier helium was contacted astir the SMU occupation (while helium was moving astatine TCU arsenic an expert nether legendary Frogs manager Gary Patterson).

Now, helium finds himself having to regenerate Patterson, who did 1 of the all-time large rebuilding jobs successful assemblage shot history, and has a statue successful beforehand of the athletics building.

"Replacing The Guy's not easy," Dykes said. "Honestly, that was portion of my information erstwhile this happened, retired of respect for Gary. He was truthful good. He gave maine a occupation successful 2017 and got maine backmost connected my feet, and I'll ever beryllium truly appreciative for that. And I don't deliberation I would person had the opportunities that I've had since past if not for that. But you look astatine the occupation helium did here. There's cipher who tin will wins. He conscionable could bash it and it conscionable permeated the full program. I deliberation that's what helium wanted to triumph truthful atrocious and it was truthful important to him that I deliberation it permeated Fort Worth. And I conscionable don't cognize that anybody other had that fire. He lit fires nether everybody. And that's wherefore this spot is what it is."

For astir 30 years, Dykes has operated mostly connected curiosity and faith, taking jobs that look similar an escapade without a expansive maestro plan. His wife, Kate, is simply a coach's girl (and her member is Joe Golding, the UTEP hoops coach) who has a uncommon knowing of the beingness of a coach.

"That was my redeeming grace," Dykes said. "She was consenting to spell on for the ride. She lived successful 2 places her full life, and I deliberation she's enjoyed the escapade of getting to spot the world. We're bully that way. And I deliberation she battles the aforesaid happening I did astir being adjacent to household but besides getting to spell connected this large adventure."

And portion Dykes is simply a Texan done and through, helium mightiness beryllium selling existent property contiguous if helium hadn't turned down a imagination accidental with the Longhorns.

In February 1997, the twelvemonth aft Texas won the Big 12 by upsetting Nebraska, John Mackovic called Dykes and offered him a postgraduate adjunct occupation with the Longhorns. It was the breakthrough Dykes had been moving connected for 2 years since helium decided helium wanted to manager football. As a kid, Dykes had played shot astatine Texas' Memorial Stadium connected Sundays erstwhile Spike was an adjunct successful Austin. He was successful the locker country with Spike erstwhile Royal told the squad helium was retiring. This was a spot that meant thing to him. He couldn't hold to telephone his dada and archer him the breathtaking news.

But for Spike, determination was 1 large problem. Sonny had agreed to spell enactment for Mumme starting successful May.

"I called my dada and told him, and helium said, 'I thought you told Hal you were going to spell to Kentucky,'" Sonny recalls. "I said, 'But Dad, it's Texas.'

"He said, 'You tin bash immoderate you want. You're grown. But I tin archer you this: If you bash that to Hal Mumme, don't ever inquire maine to assistance you with thing again the remainder of your career. Because I won't. That's your word. If your connection doesn't mean anything, past I'll never, ever assistance you. I'll beryllium your dad. But don't ever telephone maine to assistance you with a job."

Sonny was crushed. But his dad's words carried weight. He went to Kentucky.

Twenty-five years later, he's inactive moving Mumme's offense, thriving arsenic a caput manager successful Texas, coaching successful the aforesaid league wherever Spike ended his career.

"It changed everything successful my life, truly," Dykes said. "Looking backmost connected the full thing, having immoderate perspective, I recognize present that it showed maine that if I conscionable bash the close happening and enactment hard, each this stuff's going to enactment out. Of each the lessons my dada ever taught me, that was astir apt the champion one."

Spike died successful 2017 astatine 79. One of Sonny's favourite memories is celebrating with his dada successful the visitors locker country astatine Texas erstwhile Cal bushed the Longhorns 2 years before.

Kueck proudly said TCU is the lone squad helium makes definite to ticker each week. Seeing Dykes backmost successful Texas and the Big 12 is simply a storybook twist for a vocation helium watched from the beginning.

"The lone feline I comparison him to, and helium astir apt would hatred that I said this, is his dad. Sonny has a knack of being a person and directing radical without anybody feeling similar he's pushing them around," Kueck said. "I was watching erstwhile helium bushed the hellhole retired of Oklahoma and I said, 'Ol' Spike's looking down connected this happening close now, conscionable truly proud.'"