Sonny Dykes reveals what his father would think about him being TCU's head coach

Sonny Dykes is the son of Spike Dykes, who was the head coach of Texas Tech from 1986-1999. During that time, he earned an 82-67-1 record. While he was in Lubbock, Spike Dykes coached more games than anyone else in Texas Tech history.

During that time, Spike Dykes coached Texas Tech from the Southwest Conference and into the Big 12. Schools like TCU were rivals. He died before he could see Sonny Dykes return to the state of Texas. Sonny has been a head coach at SMU and now TCU in the state.

Sonny Dykes was asked about this relationship and what his father would think of him taking the TCU job.

“Yeah, it’s a little bittersweet. I think when — it was fun to have my dad when I was coaching in California,” said Sonny Dykes. “He made as many games as he could. His health was starting to fail a little bit more at that point. That’s why when I was coaching at Cal, we had an opportunity to play Texas in Austin, and it meant so much for him just to be able to drive over from Horseshoe Bay to see that game.”

As far as the TCU job goes, though, Sonny Dykes thinks his father would be excited for him. Certainly, he knows his father had tons of respect for the TCU job.

“I think he would have gotten a kick out of me being at SMU. I know he had a lot of respect for that program and certainly would have now that I’m at TCU. We used to talk all the time about what a great job TCU was because of the access that we have to the metroplex. Look, we’re the only Big 12 college football program in the metroplex. So there’s a lot of opportunity that goes along with that.”

Sonny Dykes took the time to emphasize how the inherent advantages that TCU has have only gotten better in the NIL era.

“Especially in the NIL world now with all the different ways that corporations can get involved with your program and your student-athletes, there’s tremendous opportunity here for us in this league, and it all begins with talent and acquisition and recruiting…It’s about building relationships and it’s about establishing trust, and the way you build those is by investment, and you invest by spending time with somebody.”

“I think he would have got a kick out of it,” Sonny Dykes said. “It certainly would have been easier for him to get up here than it was to get to Berkeley. That was a tough travel for him, but at the end of the day I know he’s looking down and excited about this opportunity and certainly gets a kick out of it.”