SMU's Sonny Dykes Reportedly to Replace Gary Patterson as New TCU Football Coach
TCU has reportedly found its next head football coach in SMU's Sonny Dykes.
ESPN's Ian Fitzsimmons broke the news and offered some insight on compensation:
Dykes is headed to Fort Worth after four years in charge of SMU. The 52-year-old has gone 30-17 (18-12 American Athletic Conference) during his tenure.
SMU has received two straight bowl bids and is slated to get a third after its 8-3 mark this season.
Dykes also had head coaching stops at Louisiana Tech (2010-2012) and Cal (2013-2016). he went 22-15 for the Bulldogs, but the Golden Bears went just 19-30 (10-26 in Pac-12) under Dykes' watch.
The former Texas Tech football and baseball player served as an offensive analyst for TCU during the 2017 season in between his Cal and SMU stops.
Dykes' resume also includes stints as Texas Tech's co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach (2005-2006) and Arizona's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2007-2009).
He will take over for Gary Patterson, who was fired on Oct. 31 after 21 seasons running the TCU program. Dykes has big shoes to fill in Fort Worth, as Patterson went 181-79 and led the Horned Frogs to 11 Top 25 poll finishes.
That includes a No. 2 ranking in 2010 for an undefeated TCU team that beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and a No. 3 squad in 2014 that earned a Peach Bowl win over Ole Miss.
TCU hasn't fared well of late: After an 11-3 2017 season that ended with a No. 9 ranking and an Alamo Bowl win, the Horned Frogs went just 21-22 over Patterson's next three-plus seasons.
Now Dykes will look to bring the program back to being a perennial Big 12 and national power. As for SMU, ESPN's Dave Wilson reported that Miami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee "is the front-runner" to take over the job.
