Sonny Dykes reveals TCU's approach to staying grounded after playoff run

TCU and head coach Sonny Dykes went on a run for the ages last season. After being unranked in the preseason and predicted to finish in the bottom half of the Big 12, the Horned Frogs finished the regular season undefeated and made the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

It was a remarkable run to the final. Dykes reflected on what led to such a memorable and standout season at Big 12 Media Days.

“I think what made the team really good last year was our ability to not focus on stuff that we couldn’t control,” Dykes said. “I think that was what made the group special was as the season rolled along and as you start to stack wins and you get ranked and no one ever said, we’re 4-0 and we’re ranked or we’re 5-0 and we’re this or we’re leading the Big 12 or we’re this in the College Football Playoff. Our players did a remarkable job of just focusing on trying to get better every day. It’s a cliche, and I’ve coached teams in the past that probably haven’t done a very good job of focusing on those things and have focused on the external stuff too much instead of, hey, just going out and getting better and improving.”

The 2022 season was Dykes first one with the team, coming over from SMU on the other side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

TCU had finished the 2021 season with just a 5-7 record, which made their run to the title game last year all the more surprising. But Dykes said the Horned Frogs bought into his philosophy and it lead to success.

“Last year’s team was really special that way,” Dykes said. “I never heard one conversation about the College Football Playoff rankings. Truly we never had one as a coaching staff. Our players never had one that I heard. Our deal was hey, let’s control what we can control, let’s work hard, let’s practice well, let’s go out and play hard and be great at situational football. So the guys really bought into that philosophy. I don’t really worry too much about that because I think that they saw how freeing that was. A big part of that was the fact that we were picked seventh. There wasn’t a lot of pressure. There wasn’t a lot of expectations. We just got to go out and play every Saturday, and the challenge this year will be to not take on that burden and not worry about the expectations of the program moving forward. They were able to do it last year, so I anticipate them being able to do it this year.”

If they do it again in 2023, they will be doing without some of the key leaders from last year’s group.

Quarterback Max Duggan was a Heisman finalist last year but he is now off to the NFL. He isn’t the only one from their offense to make the jump to the NFL with Quentin Johnston, Steve Avila, Kendre Miller and others making the jump.

The loss of their talent and their leadership will not be easy to replace but Dykes believes replacements are out there in his program ready for the opportunity to help TCU make another run.

“Losing Max and Kendre, what made last year’s team special was leadership,” Dykes said. “Max was a tremendous — in some ways once-in-a-lifetime leader, and Steve Avila was a world-class leader, as well. We just had guys that willed us to victory, and the challenge is going to be to find those guys. I think they’re in our program, but it’s like anything else, it’s our job to bring that part of them out, and if we can do that, then I anticipate us having a good year.”