Sonny Dykes addresses TCU's 'Cinderella' label

TCU is not your typical national championship participant. The Horned Frogs came completely out of nowhere this season to tornado through their regular season schedule before upsetting Michigan in a game full of fireworks in the semifinal. Unlike the Michigan’s, Georgia’s and Ohio State’s of the world, TCU isn’t an annual mainstay atop the recruiting rankings. They’re also the only program in the mix this year to have never made a CFP before.

Sonny Dykes is blazing an unprecedented trail of success in just his first year with the Horned Frogs. So, yes, there is a sort of Cinderella vibe to this group. You tell most coaches their team is a Cinderella and they’ll take it as disrespect — that their success is being invalidated by everyone looking around and thinking…these guys aren’t supposed to be here.

But when asked about the Cinderella label in his press conference this week, Dykes didn’t take offense. Instead, he admitted the team actually sort of viewed themselves like that at one point in the year.

“The question about the Cinderella thing, I think for a while that’s kind of, I think, in some ways we probably viewed ourselves as that early on because we were figuring this thing out,” said Dykes. “I think that if you had asked us before the season started, would we play for a national championship, most of us probably didn’t think that we would. Thought that we were capable, certainly, but we just hadn’t done it together.”

However, as the year went on and TCU started winning all of those close games, confidence snowballed to the point where the Horned Frogs truly believed they were among the nation’s best. Clearly, they are.

“We’ve kind of had to build the plane while we’re flying it in some ways this year. And I think that’s just been something that our guys have done a fantastic job of adapting. And to us, I think the Cinderella label probably started to wear off a little bit after the three-game gauntlet where we had to play three or four on the road, West Virginia, Texas and Baylor. I think at that point our guys started to believe, okay, we’re a real football team and we’re a battle-hardened team and we’ve had to overcome some adversity. And you know what? We have a chance to make a run.”

They have a chance now to win the national championship as what would be one of the most surprising sports champions in quite some time. Sonny Dykes has TCU on the brink of history in year one.