Sonny Dykes talks SMU-TCU rivalry, change at QB for the Mustangs

TCU head coach Sonny Dykes met with the media on Tuesday ahead of the Battle for the Iron Skillet on Saturday against SMU. Here’s some of what he had to say about the matchup at his press conference.

On facing SMU this weekend: “First of all, a really talented football team. I think that’s the deal. I think a lot of people picked them to kind of be the dark horse team to win the ACC this year. I talked to our players a little bit about this, Pro Football Focus does rankings of players and over the summer, 17 teams in the ACC, they had six of the Top 10 players in a 17-team league. We didn’t have a single player in the Top 30 in the Big 12. Their running back right now is the No. 1 ranked running back in football, according to Pro Football Focus. So you look at their offensive line, I think every single one of the players that’s starting up front’s a four-star, if I’m not mistaken, recruit. Really, really good players. Three of the four starting defensive linemen are transfers from Miami. Very, very talented football team full of NFL players so we’ll have our work cut out for us.”

On SMU changing from Preston Stone to Kevin Jennings at QB: “That’s the hard part about when you change quarterbacks, especially when you change quarterbacks on an open date. It can be very difficult to prepare for so you’ve got to really do a good job of trying to project what you’re going to see and try to prepare your team so you don’t get into the middle of the game and you’re in scramble mode. We’re going to have to show them some different looks this week, but at the same time just get them ready to play football. I think that’s the biggest thing, maybe try not to overcomplicate it. I’m sure there will be a little bit more quarterback run game. My guess is a little more quick game, some try to move the pocket type things. But, again, a lot remains to be seen. We really, honestly, have no idea.”

On Dykes returning to SMU this weekend: “It’s good to see the people. There’s a lot of people there that I really care about, some of the players are still there. I think the hardest part is the players because you know those guys and you invested in them. Preston Stone was in my house 20 times during the recruiting process, so close with him and a lot of those guys over there that are still there. There’s not that many players still left, but the ones that are still there are guys you knew well and you spent a lot of time and invested a lot of time in those guys and so that’s difficult. Then you’ve got friends and people that were good to us, to our family and to the program there. The thing about a college football program is, it’s not going to be successful without everybody working to be great. It takes the administration, it takes the chancellor, the president, it takes the athletic director, it takes everybody that works in football, it takes donors, it takes everybody to just give yourself an opportunity to be good. There are guys over there, like Paul Lloyd for example, that supported SMU football through 30 years, through some dark days and never wavered. It’s easier to be a fan now that they’re in the ACC and they’ve built facilities and they’ve won games and they’ve done all that stuff. But Paul’s was a fan when it was hard to be a fan. Loyal people like that, you just don’t forget them. Those guys meant a lot to me personally. That’s the thing. It’s like anything else, you’ve got to go prepare for a game and put your best foot forward from a coaching standpoint, from a decision standpoint, just make sure you put your players in the best position to be successful as you can.”

On familiarity between SMU and TCU’s staffs: “I think it’s a little bit unusual when you play, you know somebody. A lot of us have had crossover with the coaches and guys that have worked together or on the same staff. AJ was Rhett’s offensive line coach. There’s all these things. Both teams are pretty familiar with each other. I don’t think there’s any kind of advantage to us or to them from that. I do think you probably are inclined to tinker around with what you do a little bit more. For us it’s stuff like game management things like signals. You’ve got to change your signals. You’ve got to dummy signal things, you’ve got to do things like that because those are easy things, those are easy takeaways. Those are things you have to, probably, concern yourself more with than ‘what are they inclined to do on third down?’ type of thing.”

On if he expects Rhett Lashlee to talk with Gus Malzahn: “I don’t think that, I know that. Of course they did. I wouldn’t expect anything different and there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, Rhett played for Gus. Rhett was Gus’s quarterback at Shiloh Christian and so of course they talk and you would expect them to.”

On his team and what he’s looking for: “How do we bounce back. I think last year, we lost Game 1 last year and I think it was the way we lost and what happened and how it unfolded, I think rocked us for the rest of the year. I think, for us, we’ve got to do a good job of just getting over that on Saturday and understanding we have a good football team. I really do believe that. We’ll see how all this stuff plays out and see how the rest of the season plays out, but I like our team. I love our players. I’ve said it over and over, I like the maturity, like the work ethic, love the locker room, really love going to work with these guys. We have no drama on this team. The guys really like each other, they work hard, they do what we ask them to do. We have tremendous leadership, all that stuff. Typically that bodes well. What happens is, as the season goes along, hopefully, you don’t make some of those critical mistakes like we made down the stretch that hurt us. Typically teams that are mature and older and do things the right way day-in and day-out, that’s usually a pretty good formula for long-term success.”