TCU Head Coach Sonny Dykes on Raising Expectations and Chasing the CFP

Brian Fisher here for Sports Illustrated at Big 12 Media Day joined by TCU head coach Sonny Dykes.

So every time we come to this event, it's kind of signals football is, is here around the corner.

Does it feel like another season under your belt?

Yeah, it does.

Yeah, I mean, it's, here you go, you know, it's begins the journey that kind of begins, uh, with fall camp and really runs all the way till February .

It's kind of the way it is for coaches.

Uh, you have the season, you jump right into recruiting, and, and there you go.

So.

Yeah, next 6 months, it's gonna be busy, but it's an exciting time of the year and we're looking forward to it.

And obviously, we spend all our time, you know, working for these 12 Saturdays, and that's, um, that's really what it comes down to.

So it's an exciting time of the year.

When, when you look back at, at last year, what was kind of your big takeaways from, from how you guys did?

Well, you know, I kind of feel the same way over the last several seasons.

Um, you know, we've won 18 games the last 2 years.

On paper, it looks pretty good.

I think we've come away a little bit disappointed.

Um, and I think that's kind of where we are as a, as a program.

You know, where, you know, 9 wins is, is OK, but not exactly where we want to be.

And so, um, you know, I think over the last 2 years, we've lost some ballgames that we feel like we should have won, you know, that we had opportunities to win and we need to, we needed to figure out, you know, how to win those things moving forward.

And so we made some changes in the offseason and, Address some things that I think will make us better and, and I'm really excited to see if it's gonna work.

Um, feel good about the early returns and, and we'll see how it plays out.

Is that just the nature of the Big 12 though, that, I mean, it seems like every game is gonna come down to a couple of plays in the 4th quarter?

Yeah, it does.

It does.

Yeah, I mean, and that's been the thing for us, you know, the games that we've taken care of the football we've won and the games that we've turned the ball over, we've lost.

And so obviously that's been a big point of emphasis for us.

We've made a little bit of a change offensively.

From a philosophy standpoint to, to try to eliminate some of the things that, uh, the mistakes that have kept us from winning some games we felt like we should have won in the past.

So I'm excited.

I, I'm really, uh, I like this football team.

I like what we're doing.

I think we're on the same page.

I think, um, everybody in our organization, Um, has a real clear role and understands exactly what we're trying to get accomplished.

So I'm, I'm excited to see it all come together.

Uh, you guys played for the national title a couple of years ago.

Your, your former quarterback is, is now in Indiana.

They're coming off the national title.

Is that just kind of the nature of college football nowadays that we can have these stories where teams come out of nowhere?

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I think, uh, I mean, I think, look, you look at, at our run, uh, you know, we lost in the championship game, but, you know, TCU is a 5-win team the year before and we win 13 and play for a championship, and Um, and then obviously what, what happened in Indiana, you know, it's, it's really, I don't think anybody saw that coming, uh, you know, and, and I think that, um, The way college football is now, those stories can happen.

Um, and especially, you know, when, when a coach leaves a school and brings a number of players with him, you know, and you've got a little bit of that happening here in the Big 12 with, with Eric Morris at, at North Texas and coming to Oklahoma State.

And so, you know, I would imagine that football team is going to be a lot better quickly, uh, just because he's got a number of guys that understand what, how he wants to do things, understand his system, have operated at a high level within the system, and then you mix in new players and, And you can get something magic.

And, you know, it's funny that year at TCU we, we felt like going into the year, we had a decent team, um, you know, and then we won a couple of games, we probably shouldn't have won early and, and then we played OU and, you know, and, and blew out a pretty good OU team and all of a sudden our guys thought, OK, we're, we're really pretty good.

And so I don't think any of us really knew, but, but we saw the team come together and grow and I think you could say the same thing about Indiana.

Uh, Josh Hoover obviously leaving and so you got to replace him.

You go into the portal, you bring in Jaden Craig.

What, what do you, what do you see on him first and foremos?

Yeah, I mean, I think, I think it all starts with us about, OK, what kind of guy is this?

You know, you're basically handing the keys to your program to somebody, and it all begins with what kind of person is he, you know, and He was leaving Harvard because he couldn't go back to Harvard.

You know what I mean?

And he was one of those guys , if he could have gone back to Harvard, he probably would have gone back to Harvard because, you know, that's just kind of who he is and what he's about.

And so that's where it starts, is finding guys that, you know, you're comfortable handing the keys to and, and that, that, um, you know, are going to believe that he's got the team's best interest, it, it always in front of his own best interest.

And to me, that's the most important thing at that position.

And then obviously, Jaden had experience, Jaden's got the physical traits that you want.

Uh, the size, the arm strength.

Um, he's obviously a very intelligent guy, uh, very mature.

You know, I think he's one of those guys that, that we think he's going to be able to handle a lot of different situations.

Now, we'll see how he responds, you know, and especially, you know, week one in Dublin, Ireland against, uh, a, a North Carolina team on, On national TV, I mean, that's gonna be different for him than, than he's had in the past.

And, and I think he'll respond well, but he hadn't done it yet.

And so, but he's exactly what we wanted, you know, he's just the guy that we want to lead our program.

He's the guy that we believe in.

Uh, again, it's never about him.

It's always about the team, and, and I think that's where it begins.

When it comes to the actual team that you're going to play in in North Carolina, how, how different do you kind of expect them to be?

Very, yeah, very much different.

I mean, I think, um, you know, I, It was obviously Coach Belichick's first time in college football, um, first time recruiting, first time trying to put a roster together, you know, trying to teach guys, uh, a very complex scheme on the fly.

And so they'll be so much further along this year than they were last year.

I think, uh, obviously hiring Bobby Pittrino to be the offensive coordinator.

You know, I think he's one of the best play callers in college football.

He's got an unbelievable track record.

Um, and so, you know, it'll be a big challenge, and I think it'll be a completely different North Carolina team that we played last year.

A lot of, a lot of difficult games on your schedule in terms of the, the Big 12 play, especially, you know, how competitive has, has this conference become these last couple of years that you've seen?

Well, I mean, I think it's good.

I mean, I think it's really good.

I think you start looking at the, at the games and you say, OK.

You know, where are the easy wins and there's just, there's just not any, you know, and I, I think that's, look, I was in the, the, the, the Big 12 many, many years ago at Texas Tech and, you know, we played 4 non-conference games and, and didn't really play a real challenging non-conference schedule.

So, you know, you got 4 wins there and then, you know, you start looking around at, at the teams in the league and a lot of the teams were kind of not necessarily going through the best periods and all of a sudden you look up and you go, OK, if we don't screw it up, we got 8 wins here right now today.

And, and, you know, and now, OK, we got these two teams that were probably about the same, and then we got two teams we're gonna have to play exceptional to beat.

And so you could kind of do that in most years and it kind of played out that way.

In this league, I mean, it's the way it is today, you know, every game is a challenge and, and all the road trips that you have to take in this league are tough.

Um, you know, none of them are easy.

It's very difficult to win on the road.

Everybody's well-coached.

I mean, I think the league, you look at the coaches in the league, uh, I think, I'd put them up against anybody.

I mean, these guys have won at, at level after level after level.

I mean, you look at, you know, Rich Rod and Willie Fritts, um, Yeah, I mean, just guys that have, you know, done this for a long time, have been successful at all these different places, didn't matter where they were, uh, have found ways to win, uh, Lance Leopold, you know, and guys like that.

I mean, you know, those guys are really, really good football coaches and, and they've done it at jobs that historically haven't been easy places to win.

And so, you know, to me, those are the guys that, you know, that I really respect.

And, um, you know, and then you've got to get a lot of good young coaches in the league as well.

So it's, it's a, it's a good league.

Um, you know, you better be ready every Saturday, and, uh, we've got a lot of talented teams in the league.

Can that, can that parity though, can that still produce two college football playoff teams?

Oh, yeah.

I mean, I, I think we're at that stage where if we don't, it's a disappointment for the league .

Yeah, I, I think, you know, I think you look back, I, I think history will probably tell us , you know, BYU should have been in last year.

You know, I think it's pretty clear, um, uh, especially with, you know, the two, you know, non-power 4 teams getting in and how that played out.

And, and so, I mean, BYU is certainly deserving of a spot.

I think we all understand that, we realize it and, And I think moving forward, I'm hopeful that, that, you know, the Big 12 would minimum of 2 and, and hope we're hoping for more.

Talking a lot with your guys here at Big 12 Media Days.

Is there somebody on your team though that, uh, we, we don't know now, but he's gonna be a household name in the fall?

Oh, I think, you know, Ben Taylor Whitfield, I think is, as an offensive lineman that, that, um, You know, just gets better for us and I think is, is really, has been talented, but understands the, the little things now that, that make offensive linemen great.

I think he'll, he'll have a big year and I think he'll have a chance to, to play for a long time.

Um, you know, I think he's kind of the guy that stands out.

You know, Jamelle Johnson's a safety that's, that's played a lot for us, but was a little bit in the shadows of Bud Clark and, and I think Jamel's primed to have a big year, as well.

Paul Oluwale, I think is, As a D-lineman that's kind of been banged up in the past and, and I think it's healthy and primed to have a big, uh, year as well.

And so, it'll be fun, you know, Jeremy Payne, I think really finished the season strong last year.

You go back and you look at his Alamo Bowl and the game against Cincinnati and, and really Houston for that matter, the last, uh, The, the, the game before the last game and, and, you know, he played well.

He's just playing well.

He's productive.

I think what we're doing from a scheme standpoint really fits his skill set and, and I look for him to, to have a big year.

Exciting times there in Fort Worth.

Exciting season ahead for the Horned Frogs.

Sonny, thank you so much for stopping by here at Sports Illustrated at the Big 12 Media Days.