Sonny Dykes the benefactor?

[BillupsFrog]

Last year was amazing. We Frog Fans couldn't believe the turn-around from 2021 to last year. It was a dream season (other than the national championship game).

But those were Gary's players who undoubtedly were well coached, mature and hardworking under Coach P's staff. But maybe it was too structured, too intense, and had become a job instead of something fun to be part of.

In comes Sonny, with his matter of fact, "Do Your Job", "It's On You" if you want to win or lose mindset. He let the players be loose and let the leaders lead. We had plenty of leaders and "FRAWGS" last year, maybe the best we've ever had in Max Duggan, and the results just came. That team found a way to win when this year's team finds ways to lose.

Was Sonny just the benefactor of great players (that Coach P assembled) who just needed a good, free-wheeling system to thrive? Or did his staff coach em up to get us where we got last year?

I'm starting to think that either his staff isn't very good or that the drop off from the leadership and talent we had last year to what we have this year is HUGE.

Dykes has gotta be willing to sit some guys and fire some coaches. We can't keep hearing about "Best Tuesday Practice Ever" and perform at such low levels in the game.

 

[tcudoc]

As an aside, did you find your specialty plates?

 

[BillupsFrog]

As an aside, did you find your specialty plates?

Nope. But I gave up looking 10 years ago.

 

[Limey Frog]

Last year we had eight players drafted who were all leaders with exceptional athletic talent, and they were spread through the team--one or two for every unit. We all knew that we were riding Duggan, Miller, Horton, Winters, Avila, Davis, QJ, and THT farther than we had any right to expect, but I don't think we could have anticipated dropping off this far.

Still, it wasn't just the players. You can't win without good players; we had a great group at the top last year. But the coaching staff got the formula right last year. This year they got it wrong. They got it so wrong that I don't think we have any momentum left from last year's run; we pretty much are back to the drawing board, because you can't recruit to your title game game run right after you just went 5-7 (or worse). Does Sonny know what we're doing wrong? Does he need to change personnel? Is it him? I'm not ready to throw him out after last year, but things are obviously not working right now.

 

[Horny 4 Life]

Sonny is starting to give off a lot of Mike Davis vibes.

If you've been a follower of college basketball for awhile you'll know what I mean.

 

[GiantFrog]

We had a great run - thats coaching and players. We lost great players. Sonny has to have some time to figure out what he now has and fill the holes.

Sonny is a proven winner. It's not easy. Got to have patience.

 

[Big Frog II]

My biggest concern this year was going into the season with a QB that can't stay healthy and a freshman back up. Unfortunately it has played out like I was afraid it would.

We cannot go into next season without a proven veteran QB. We cannot throw Hejny in there before he's ready. That would not be fair to him or any other true freshman.

 

[campdavid23]

He have had a huge drop off in talent… a squad of playmakers last year, to none this year. We can all question play calling and defensive schemes, which have been beyond puzzling at times… but you have to have more than couple of good players to win, and the few we have are seldom in position to make big plays…and it is a huge drop off on both sides of the ball.

 

[DeuceBoogieNights]

Sonny is a proven winner. It's not easy. Got to have patience.

Is he though? 88-70 overall. Only 2 seasons with 10+ wins in his career. He was terrible at Cal. Looks absolutely lost this season. Says dumb [ Finebaum ] after the games.

 

[Chongo94]

We had a great run - thats coaching and players. We lost great players. Sonny has to have some time to figure out what he now has and fill the holes.

Sonny is a proven winner. It's not easy. Got to have patience.

How is he a proven winner? Because he was 12 games over .500 at SMU, is that how? That was over 4 seasons so essentially that’s only a 8-5 record each year…says just a bit better than average to me.

 

[Planks]

Dykes inherited a strange team in 2022. A team loaded with senior starters with NFL talent, and then a completely empty void behind them. Take a look at Patterson’s last full recruiting class, the 2021 recruiting class. It might be the worst recruiting class in the history of TCU, and that isn’t an exaggeration. Dykes had nothing to do with that. Those are the guys that should be stepping up this year and replacing the guys we graduated. But the 2021 class is non-existent.

I think it’s more than fair to say that Dykes is clearly not as a good a coach as the 2022 starters made him look. Those were Patterson’s players, Dykes inherited those guys.

With that being said, if we are going to say that Dykes doesn’t deserve as much credit for the 2022 season as it wasn’t his players, I think we should also say Dykes doesn’t deserve as much blame for 2023 as the team.

 

[NewFrogFan]

Last year we had eight players drafted who were all leaders with exceptional athletic talent, and they were spread through the team--one or two for every unit. We all knew that we were riding Duggan, Miller, Horton, Winters, Avila, Davis, QJ, and THT farther than we had any right to expect, but I don't think we could have anticipated dropping off this far.

Still, it wasn't just the players. You can't win without good players; we had a great group at the top last year. But the coaching staff got the formula right last year. This year they got it wrong. They got it so wrong that I don't think we have any momentum left from last year's run; we pretty much are back to the drawing board, because you can't recruit to your title game game run right after you just went 5-7 (or worse). Does Sonny know what we're doing wrong? Does he need to change personnel? Is it him? I'm not ready to throw him out after last year, but things are obviously not working right now.

By 2021 at LSU after one of the best teams in history in 2019, it was VERY obvious EO was done, I think he even wanted it that way. Not the same issues at TCU but the speed of the fall can be very fast. NEVER thought I would see 2 programs do this so quickly.

 

[TopFrog]

Take a look at Patterson’s last full recruiting class, the 2021 recruiting class. It might be the worst recruiting class in the history of TCU, and that isn’t an exaggeration.

Not even close.

 

[Planks]

Not even close.

The point is the lack of successful HS recruiting from that class is a large part to why we are having a bad season.

You can’t have it both ways. If Dykes doesn’t deserve credit for 2022 because of the good veteran players he inherited from Patterson, then he shouldn’t get blame for 2023 for the lack of good young players he inherited from Patterson.

 

[Sangria Wine]

Take a look at Patterson’s last full recruiting class, the 2021 recruiting class. It might be the worst recruiting class in the history of TCU, and that isn’t an exaggeration.

Might take a look at that class again:

College Football Recruiting Classes - ESPN

Find what players have committed to your favorite school. Videos, analysis and more on ESPN.com

www.espn.com

Basically the same level of recruiting as almost any other recent year. Lots of 3-stars and a few 4-stars. That’s what TCU football has been winning with for a long long time.

 

[Wexahu]

Is he though? 88-70 overall. Only 2 seasons with 10+ wins in his career. He was terrible at Cal. Looks absolutely lost this season. Says dumb [ Finebaum ] after the games.

He wasn't "terrible" at Cal.

He coached at La Tech, Cal and SMU.......going 71-63 at those schools isn't setting the world on fire for sure, but it's definitely not terrible. Maybe we should fire him, I don't know, but no need to say stupid [ Finebaum ] about his record.

Who should we go get?

 

[Wexahu]

The point is the lack of successful HS recruiting from that class is a large part to why we are having a bad season.

You can’t have it both ways. If Dykes doesn’t deserve credit for 2022 because of the good veteran players he inherited from Patterson, then he shouldn’t get blame for 2023 for the lack of good young players he inherited from Patterson.

High school recruiting isn't going to matter much going forward. The key will be cobbling together a good roster out of all the vagabonds that will be available every year.

How we finish out the year or whether we make a bowl game has almost no bearing on the future. We'll trot out a new group of guys next year and see if it works. And then we'll do the same in 2025...and 2026 and beyond.

I can't wait, it's so exciting.

 

[DeuceBoogieNights]

He wasn't "terrible" at Cal.

He coached at La Tech, Cal and SMU.......going 71-63 at those schools isn't setting the world on fire for sure, but it's definitely not terrible. Maybe we should fire him, I don't know, but no need to say stupid [ Finebaum ] about his record.

Who should we go get?

He was 19-30 at Cal. That's terrible. How is that stupid [ Finebaum ]? Defending his time at Cal is stupid [ Finebaum ]. I was replying to a comment that said he was a certified winner. He's average. He's a good G5 coach.

 

[BrewingFrog]

Yes, Sonny found a cupboard that wasn't empty, just misused. While he made some moves in The Portal, both coming and going, he also made (or tried to) a move at QB to bench a 3 year starter in favor of the son of an old friend.
We fired one of the best winners TCU has ever known for the sin of not cutting loose His Guys, even though they clearly couldn't do the job. We knew it, and he knew it. But he would not budge. So now he's sitting in a Las Cruces diner enjoying enchiladas instead of being a D1 Coach.
Sonny has to make some changes. He was cut a lot of slack after the MNC, and blew it all on hiring the son of an old friend. That hire is a failure, and his DC is even worse. He is fresh out of goodwill, and excuses.

 

[Planks]

Might take a look at that class again:

College Football Recruiting Classes - ESPN

Find what players have committed to your favorite school. Videos, analysis and more on ESPN.com

www.espn.com

Basically the same level of recruiting as almost any other recent year. Lots of 3-stars and a few 4-stars. That’s what TCU football has been winning with for a long long time.

To clarify I’m not talking about recruiting rankings or stars. I’m talking about hits and misses.