What is the Hypnotoad for TCU football?

With the power of the Hypnotoad, Sonny Dykes has his TCU football program rolling at 9-0.

There is no denying Sonny Dykes’ TCU football team has a secret weapon with the Hypnotoad.

Yes, the long-time college head coach may have had a blueprint drawn up at SMU to dominate the metroplex, but who saw TCU get all the way up to No. 4 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings with a 9-0 record? It has to be the Hypnotoad, and nothing else. Gary Patterson may have had a legendary career at Fort Worth, but he did not understand the power of Futurama.

With the college football world colliding in Austin for No. 4 TCU at No. 18 Texas, what exactly is the Hypnotoad? Should we be fearful of it or should we embrace it for all the wonderful quirkiness that makes college football the supreme and powerful leader of the sports world? Take one look into the Hypnotoad’s eyes and you will understand. All of your problems will be solved right away.

TCU football: What is the Hypnotoad?

The Hypnotoad is a recurring bit character in the Matt Groening cartoon Futurama. It is a toad with multicolored, oscillating eyes that has the power of mind control. It emits this humming noise when its eyes are doing their thing. People, animals, mutants and aliens are all powerless to the mighty overlord that is the Hypnotoad. As for the TCU Horned Frogs, it is perfect. Obey Hypnotoad!

How did the Hypnotoad start?

Dykes spoke with Sam Khan Jr. and Max Olson of The Athletic on how the Hypnotoad came to be at TCU and its one-of-a-kind symbiotic relationship with his Horned Frogs football program.

"“I noticed it for the first time during basketball season. I was at some basketball games and, all of a sudden on the highlights, there’s this strange, weird thing happening, and it’s got Gene Wilder from Young Frankenstein on it, so I was like, ‘OK, this is kind of cool. This is interesting,’ and it just got weirder and weirder, but it seemed to pump the crowd up. And then, obviously, it carried over to football. In a couple of games where it was close, they played it on the board, and we kind of seized control of the game, and all of a sudden it became a thing. And so, one day before practice, these guys walk in, they say, ‘Hey, wear this sweatshirt to practice today.’ So I wear the sweatshirt to practice, and the next thing I know, I walk in after practice and I’ve got hundreds of messages on my phone about the sweatshirt. And I’m like, ‘OK, what’s going on with this thing?’ Anyway, it happened and it’s kind of cool, and our marketing people have done a really cool job of creating a buzz around it. It’s something that, again, it’s funny, our players kind of believe in it, and I’m starting to become a little bit of a believer myself.”"

From not knowing a whole lot about the other cartoon developed by The Simpsons guy, Dykes went from a spectator at a Horned Frogs basketball game to wearing a Hypnotoad hoodie at TCU football practice. Don’t worry. You have plenty of time to purchase a hoodie like this online in time for the holiday season. This will probably be the best gift you will ever purchase in your entire life.

Take on look at this and tell me you don’t want a Hypnotoad hoodie?! Look at how awesome Coach Dykes looks! You can only aspire to be that cool and hip in your life, so what are you waiting for???

When did the Hypnotoad start?

As Dykes said to The Athletic, the cultish phenomenon started on the hardwood in Fort Worth and has since made its way to the gridiron. It is every bit as weird as you can imagine, but that is the beauty of college sports. The students keep things fresh and interesting. With this being Dykes’ first season at TCU, it first started being a thing on the football field during the start of the year.

Horned Frogs are mostly lizards, but are kind of frogs, which are kind of toads, which have to be related to the almighty Hypnotoad. So you can easily connect the dots and make sense of all this. Blessed with the power to get the home crowd fired up and make the opposition miss field goals, here is to our new lord and savior having a most impactful presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

There is no better way to get ready for Texas than watching the Hypnotoad for 10 straight hours.

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