Sonny Dykes takes shot at Big Ten, SEC realignment during Big 12 Media Days

TCU is coming off a banner season under new head coach Sonny Dykes. The former head coach at Louisiana Tech, California, and SMU led the Horned Frogs to an undefeated regular season in 2022 and beat Michigan in the program’s first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. Things got ugly in the title game against Georgia, but this program based in Fort Worth has a ton of momentum.

At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Dykes received a ton of attention at Big 12 Media Days. The 53-year-old coach, who was a Kentucky graduate assistant in 1997 and wide receivers coach in 1999, decided to speak out about conference realignment with Oklahoma and Texas entering their last season in the Big 12 before bolting for the SEC.

The longtime Mike Leach assistant used this media opportunity to take a swing at former Big 12 programs that left for the SEC.

“I think every institution has to answer the question, ‘Is it a good move for us?’ ” Dykes told the media in Arlington. “I know at that time Missouri was playing in a lot of Big 12 championship games. I haven’t seen that happen since they made the move to the SEC. Texas A&M was a competitive program, and haven’t really seen that a whole lot since they moved to the SEC. Don’t know what’s going to happen with Oklahoma and Texas.”

Dykes did not hold back. Missouri won the SEC East in 2012 and 2013 under Gary Pinkel but has had only two winning campaigns in the last eight seasons. A&M has found some more success with four top 25 finishes in the SEC but the expectations were raised when the Aggies hired Jimbo Fisher, and the bar has not been met following a disastrous 5-7 year in 2022. There is a tax that programs have to pay when entering the gauntlet which is SEC football.

“If it’s all about lining your pockets with money, then the decisions are really easy and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and don’t look back,” Dykes said. “You can say, ‘Well, we were 4-and-8, but we made a lot of money.’ At the end of the day, if that’s what it’s about, then congratulations.”

The National Coach of the Year did not stop there. Dykes even made a sarcastic remark regarding the Big Ten.

“The rivalry between UCLA and Rutgers, I think it’s a natural rivalry,” Dykes told reporters. “I’m anxious to see how that plays out.”

Both the Big Ten and SEC have signed recent monstrous media contracts and have each added two huge brands to get their league membership up to 16 institutions. Quickly, a big two is developing in college football and that is creating a big gap with the rest of the Power Five. That is creating some uncomfortable feelings across the NCAA landscape. Florida State and numerous other ACC schools are looking for a way to end the grant of rights. TCU doesn’t want to lose ground after a big season. We’re in an interesting time period and should expect some other programs to take some shots at the Big Ten and SEC as the money gap grows.