TCU Football Is Making Mental Health Part of the Team Conversation

A player who usually talks with everyone starts sitting alone with his headphones on.

That change might be easy to miss during a college football season. To Nate Guyton, it is a reason for a teammate to check in.

“That’s how we frame it,” Guyton said. “OK, this player is usually talking and engaging all the time and now he’s sitting alone with headphones.”

Guyton is a co-founder of Victory Calling, a program that works with TCU football to build connection and peer support among players. Its approach begins with a simple idea: Teammates who know one another may notice when something changes and they can start a conversation.

The goal is not to ask players to diagnose one another. It is to make sure a teammate knows someone sees him and that support is available.

The Pressures Beyond Football

College athletes balance classes, practices and competition. Name, image and likeness opportunities can add another set of responsibilities. Athletes with NIL partnerships may create social media content, attend appearances, meet sponsorship deadlines and maintain a public image. Those opportunities can be valuable, but players must manage the commitments alongside their academic work, athletic development and overall well-being. The demands do not necessarily end when practice does.

Mental health has become part of the conversation about how programs care for the whole person. At TCU, head coach Sonny Dykes has emphasized caring for players both mentally and physically. That philosophy helped make room for resources that players can see and use within the football program.

Victory Calling, created by Guyton and Peter Nagel, focuses on mental fitness and peer connection. The program uses an approach it calls Solution-Focused Sport Psychology, asking coaches and athletes to recognize what is already working and build on those strengths.

TCU wide receiver Ed Small gestures toward quarterback Jaden Craig as they talk on the field in purple uniforms. — TCU wide receiver Ed Small (18) and quarterback Jaden Craig (1) connect during a game. Their on-field interaction reflects the teammate relationships at the heart of the story. | Tony Beblowski for KillerFrogs.com

Guyton said the aim is to work with a team’s existing relationships, staff and culture.

“We’re trying to amplify everyone on campus with this. It’s not something that replaces anything,” Guyton said. “We take the strengths of the universities that we work with and we try to amplify them by working with the staff and coaches and building something that works for them.”

That work depends on more than an app or a scheduled check-in. Community, leadership and compassion can help athletes feel connected to their programs on and off the field. Within a team, those qualities become practical when players know one another well enough to notice a change and feel comfortable reaching out.

When a Teammate Notices

At the center of the program is a peer-support network that encourages athletes to look out for one another. A player who is usually engaged but suddenly withdraws, for example, may prompt a teammate to reach out and offer a listening ear.

The network is an additional layer of support. It does not replace licensed mental health professionals or the university’s existing services. Guyton is a licensed clinician, while peer leaders are trained to recognize changes and encourage teammates to seek further support when needed.

Across Victory Calling’s partner programs over the past two years, trained peer leaders have helped connect six students in crisis to professional mental health care, according to Guyton. The figure is not specific to TCU football, and Victory Calling does not break it down by school to protect students’ privacy.

“The credit belongs to the peer leaders who noticed and reached out, and to the clinicians who provided care,” Guyton said.

He said the program is designed to change with the players.

“What we do looks different every year because there are different players,” Guyton said. “I think it’s really important we build differently every year. We just don’t get caught up in symptoms and diagnoses. It’s not very useful language in mental health, but what is useful is paying attention and observing that something is different.”

TCU wide receiver Ed Small, No. 18, stands with two teammates near the end zone during a game. — TCU wide receiver Ed Small (18) gathers with teammates near the end zone during a game. | TCU FOOTBALL X

That attention extends beyond game day. Victory Calling’s mobile app includes daily check-ins, content modules, weekly scaling, peer-leader voting and push notifications. These tools give players ways to reflect on how they are doing and stay connected throughout the demands of a college football season. They work alongside the program’s in-person relationships: A notification can offer a point of contact, while a teammate can notice when something seems different and start a conversation.

For Guyton, the most meaningful moment may be the first conversation: One teammate notices that another seems different and takes the time to ask how he is doing.

As college athletes face demands on the field, in class and in public through NIL, knowing someone will answer that call can matter well beyond Saturday.

Learn more about Victory Calling. TCU students can also find counseling and mental health services for student-athletes.

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