Spring Football Looks Different at TCU from Across the Atlantic

As TCU Horned Frog spring football enters its third week in Fort Worth, the structure and rhythm of practice are beginning to take shape under head coach Sonny Dykes. With media availability rotating between offensive and defensive units and select player sessions, the focus has shifted from early installation to refinement, evaluation, and competition. For those watching closely, and even 4,500 miles away, this is where the details of the spring begin to matter most.

As spring comes around across Europe and major sports leagues like soccer reach their final months, American college coaches are back on the grass.

In the United States, the period of March and April marks the start of spring football, when teams are fixed with a tightly regulated schedule of on-field work. This has nothing to do with the NFL, but for the players to get physically and mentally prepared for the brutal 12-game season.

For the over 130 teams in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), spring ball is as essential as it is misunderstood.

No, it is not a series of exhibition games, as there are no official games with other programs. Instead, teams engage in up to 15 on-field practices within a 34-day window, with strict NCAA limits on contact and hours.

In most cases, this ultimately ends with an intra-team scrimmage or the spring game, which fans can watch. For programmes such as TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, these weeks are already underway in late March 2026.

Why Spring Ball Matters

These spring practices date back to when college football became a thing. The idea was simple: to get players sharp ahead of the autumn campaign. But over time, the modern product of that is governed by NCAA reform.

Practices run for no more than 34 days, with a maximum of 20 hours of unrestricted activities per week and at least one full day off. Only 12 out of the 15 sessions may involve contact; the first two are non-contact and helmet-only. Just three players will be allowed to engage in 11-on-11 scrimmaging, with the spring game included among them.

Spring football will not replace the energy of a packed stadium during the season; however, this period is a solid foundation for what to expect when the season kicks-off and the schedule gets tougher and tougher.

TCU’s Early Spring Ball Engagement

TCU is one of the more engaged programs in the spring ball period right now. The Horned Frogs entered the 2026 season off a 9-4 record in 2025, capped by an Alamo Bowl victory over USC.

Head coach Sonny Dykes returns for another year in Fort Worth, but he is with a new backroom offense coordinator. The program hired Gordon Samis in January after he built one of the nation’s most productive units at UConn. He is coming to install a physical, run-heavy identity that demands toughness.

Quarterback Jaden Craig was brought in for this system. The Horned Frogs got him from Harvard as a transfer after he played three seasons for the Crimson.

Craig is exactly the low-turnover leader Dykes sought after Josh Hoover’s departure to Indiana. Cohesion will take some time, but Dykes and Sammis have both noted the roster’s improved size and length after a strong winter in the weight room.

Spring Practice Enters a Critical Stretch

Early indications from the spring period show that TCU is lining up for a strong season and one to watch.

As spring practice continues, this week marks the third of four scheduled weeks for the TCU Horned Frogs, putting the program firmly in the stretch where evaluations sharpen and roles begin to take shape. With just one week remaining before the spring window closes, the work being done now carries added weight as the Horned Frogs build toward the fall.

Spring football may not come with the lights, crowds, or urgency of the fall, but from 4,500 miles away, it offers something just as valuable: insight into how teams like TCU are built long before the season begins.

If you've followed along with this perspective, there's more to explore. From late-night March Madness reactions to what stands out in game action from England, the "Across the Pond" series continues to offer a different lens on the Horned Frogs, and it's just getting started.

If you haven't yet, go back and catch the earlier stories in this series. You'll start to see TCU a little differently.