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Saturday Blitz: 3 most overrated Big 12 coaches ahead of the 2024 season

TopFrog

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog

3 most overrated Big 12 football coaches ahead of the 2024 season​

By Connor Muldowney

Big 12 football is going to look vastly different in 2024. Not only did the conference lose top dogs like Texas and Oklahoma, but it added some interesting new programs like Arizona, Arizona State, and Colorado. This conference just got a major shakeup.

And with that shakeup comes new head coaches into the league and old familiar faces who are maybe getting more love than they ever have now that they're the big men on campus.

Which coaches are getting too much love heading into the 2024 season?

These are my three most overrated Big 12 football coaches.

3. Sonny Dykes, TCU​

While I don't think anyone is hailing Sonny Dykes as the best coach in the conference, he is still getting a ton of love stemming from that College Football Playoff season in 2022.

Was it just a mirage though?

That's kind of where I'm at with TCU's 2022 run as they fell back to earth in 2023 under Dykes, missing a bowl game completely and going 5-7. It's very hard to go from 13 wins to five wins in one year and a national title game appearance to a bowl-less season. But yet people act like Dykes is a top-notch Big 12 coach.

Do I think Dykes is a bad coach? Not at all. I think he has a great offensive mind, but there's a reason his only success as a head coach came while he was in the Group of Five -- outside of 2022. He went 19-30 in four years at Cal and went 5-7 this past season after taking TCU to the title game in his first year with the program. Maybe he was better off in the Group of Five?

Read more at https://saturdayblitz.com/posts/3-m...coaches-ahead-of-the-2024-season-01j3r3gcp457
 
Limey Frog

Limey Frog

Full Member
Do people act like Dykes is a top coach? I must have missed that. I've seen TCU picked between about 10th and 7th in the conference for this year. That suggests everyone thinks we'll be mediocre, not that everyone thinks our coach is a miracle worker.
 
East Coast

East Coast

Tier 1
FroggleRock said:
You mean a journalist omitted important information so they could form their own narrative?? That’s unheard of!
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In this case it doesn't matter. This year is huge for TCU and even bigger for Dykes. Anything less than 8 wins is going to be seen as proof that all he did was redirect a broken culture and ride Gary's players to the NC game. As it is, I can argue he was outcoached in up to 5 games in 2022 and just lucked out.
 
4 Oaks Frog

4 Oaks Frog

Active Member
Limey Frog said:
Do people act like Dykes is a top coach? I must have missed that. I've seen TCU picked between about 10th and 7th in the conference for this year. That suggests everyone thinks we'll be mediocre, not that everyone thinks our coach is a miracle worker.
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Of course it was intentional omitting his time at smu. This guy is part of the lying press that loves to bend and omit to make the statement they want…
 
Chongo94

Chongo94

Active Member
TopFrog said:
Did he intentionally omit Sonny Dykes' 30-18 record at SMU prior to being hired at TCU? That was his most successful coaching stop. Pretty sloppy report leaving that out, unless it was intentional so as not to interfere with his narrative.
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He says his only success came when he was with the Group of 5….he didn’t specifically state the record but he also didn’t leave out his other success entirely.
 
Horned Frog Country

Horned Frog Country

Full Member
This guy has ZERO depth. He conveniently omits why he was 19-30 at Cal. Let’s just say the Cal administration did not exactly given him the best opportunity to win over a long term period of time. In some ways, SMU is more committed to football than Cal.
 
Frog DJ

Frog DJ

Active Member
One of the things I’ll be most interested to see in the forthcoming season is how the new DC fares, and how that impacts the final season record.

I believe Sonny was cursed with a deeply flawed defensive scheme that he obviously could not completely restructure in the middle of the season.

That’s not to say he lacks culpability for the D’s shortcomings, because he hired the DC after all, but when you hang 45 on OU in Norman, you shouldn’t lose by 24!

Go Frogs!
 
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F

FroggleRock

Active Member
Frog DJ said:
I believe Sonny was cursed with a deeply flawed defensive scheme that he obviously could not completely restructure in the middle of the season.

That’s not to say he lacks culpability for the D’s shortcomings, because he hired the DC after all, but when you hang 45 on OU in Norman, you shouldn’t lose by 24!
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To this point, it was pretty telling when KSU and OU players boasted how they weren’t worried about our defense because we were so predictable.
 
Froggy Style

Froggy Style

Active Member
With NIL, transfer portal, and regular recruiting, the head coach needed is more CEO and relationship guy than coach. Sonny's job is to keep players happy-ish and get Coordinators who will stick around after a good year which may mean with a few flaws. I think he has done a pretty good job hiring two guys with great experience, but also may be grateful to have the job they have.
 
TopFrog

TopFrog

Lifelong Frog
Frog DJ said:
One of the things I’ll be most interested to see in the forthcoming season is how the new DC fares, and how that impacts the final season record.

I believe Sonny was cursed with a deeply flawed defensive scheme that he obviously could not completely restructure in the middle of the season.

That’s not to say he lacks culpability for the D’s shortcomings, because he hired the DC after all, but when you hang 45 on OU in Norman, you shouldn’t lose by 24!

Go Frogs!
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The defense was flawed in 2022. We had Max and the offense to cover.
 
T

tetonfrog

Active Member
Frog DJ said:
One of the things I’ll be most interested to see in the forthcoming season is how the new DC fares, and how that impacts the final season record.

I believe Sonny was cursed with a deeply flawed defensive scheme that he obviously could not completely restructure in the middle of the season.

That’s not to say he lacks culpability for the D’s shortcomings, because he hired the DC after all, but when you hang 45 on OU in Norman, you shouldn’t lose by 24!

Go Frogs!
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Don't throw all of throw all the blame on the rotten D. Our offense in the second quarter was Briles at his worst: no huddle/no yards/no TOP/no break for a tired, underwhelming defense. Here is the recap in the second quarter with OU ahead 14-13:

TCU 8 plays/27 yards - punt
OU TD 21-13
TCU 3 plays and punt
OU TD 28-13
TCU 4 plays and turnover on downs
OU TD 35-13
TCU 3 plays and punt
OU TD 42-13
TCU FG 42-16

Halftime OU 42-16

Yes, the Frogs defense was awful, but they had no chance. It was Briles' offense at its worst: no execution/no first downs/no TOP/no rest for a battered defense. Once the Boomers were comfortably ahead, they stopped blitzing us and stayed back in their zone coverage. Hoover and the Frogs then moved the ball, put up some points and stats in a game that was over.

It was a total defeat and not one to be pinned completely on the D.
 
BleedNPurple

BleedNPurple

Active Member
TopFrog said:
Did he intentionally omit Sonny Dykes' 30-18 record at SMU prior to being hired at TCU? That was his most successful coaching stop. Pretty sloppy report leaving that out, unless it was intentional so as not to interfere with his narrative.
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I was thinking the same thing. He wasn’t bad at LA Tech either - 9-3 and won the WAC. Before going to Cal.
 

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