Hug a Texas fan after telling them this TCU fact after national championship berth
By John Buhler
Sonny Dykes’ overwhelming success at TCU is not the greatest look for Texas in the slightest.
At one point in time, Sonny Dykes could have been the head coach of the Texas Longhorns and not the TCU Horned Frogs.
Back when Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte was looking to hire Tom Herman’s replacement in Austin, apparently, the former SMU head coach was his first choice. Dykes was having success at the Group of Five level in Dallas, but the allure of hiring a former Washington and USC head coach in former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian was too good to pass up back then.
Well, Dykes is 13-1 in 14 games at TCU, is playing for a national title and Texas is still not back…
Not to rub salt in the wound, but Sonny Dykes was Chris Del Conte's first choice for the Texas job.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) January 1, 2023
Texas messed around and could have hired Sonny Dykes as their head coach
Del Conte ended up hiring Sarkisian away from Alabama after the 2020 college football season. Although the Mustangs were trending up under Dykes, he left SMU for the metroplex’s other university of note to replace Gary Patterson at TCU. Fate would have it, Patterson resurfaced on Sarkisian’s Texas staff this season. Who wouldn’t want to trade places with Dykes right now?
For Dykes to have TCU playing for a national title in year one in Fort Worth is one of the greatest storylines in recent college football history. To be totally honest with you, it might even be more impressive than the 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats even making the College Football Playoff out of the Group of Five. TCU was not expected to do much in Dykes’ first year, and look at those Frogs now!
Ultimately, it was always going to take a minute for Sarkisian to get this thing turned around in Austin. His abilities as an offensive play-caller, as well as a recruiter are two things he always seems to have going for him. However, Dykes clearly has done more with less in half the time. Admittedly, Dykes is doing just fine in Fort Worth. He works there, but what could have been…
Del Conte might have been onto something in 2021, but Texas was not going to hire Dykes then.
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