Sonny Dykes’ Ghosts of Past Resurface as CBS Disrespect Sparks Strong Response

TCU Horned Frogs’ Sonny Dykes took to Big 12 Media Days last week where he addressed big-picture issues. College football’s messy state, the slow march toward revenue sharing, and what real clean-up might look like. Now one of most polarizing résumés has just been handed a national cold shoulder. Currently, he’s the one who got “cleaned off” from a top CBS list.

The CBS Sports coaching rankings, often debated but never ignored, dropped Sonny Dykes 13 spots nationally and four spots within the Big 12. A head-scratching dip for a coach who just posted a 9-win bounce-back season. What made it more curious? The Frogs had gone from five wins in 2023 to nine in 2024, and Dykes owns the only CFP win on the list. Yet there he sat, one spot behind Mike Gundy and one ahead of Dave Aranda. “I believe Sonny has one of the more confusing coaching résumés in college football,” said Stephen Simcox on Locked On Horned Frogs. “He’s really tough to evaluate when it comes to these lists.” But Simcox made his case clear: “Everywhere he’s been, he’s overachieved, with the exception of the Cal job.”

Mr. Simcox didn’t sugarcoat Dykes’ past. At SMU, his teams had a tendency to fade down the stretch, but the rebuild was undeniable. “When Sonny took the SMU job, they had become an afterthought post-death penalty,” Simcox said. “June Jones and Chad Morris had six-win seasons. Chad Morris won six or seven games in a group of five league, got to the Frisco Bowl, and suddenly found himself coaching the Arkansas Razorbacks.” In other words, Dykes elevated a program whose baseline was barely breathing. “He did a good job recruiting there, using SMU’s location in the city of Dallas as a way to leverage getting talent and keeping that talent home.” And before that?

A conference title at Louisiana Tech. Even his time at Cal, while rocky, came with context. “Cal’s a tough job,” Simcox added. “Justin Wilcox wins between six and nine games each year. That tells you the baseline for that program.” CBS offered a layered rationale. “Dykes is in a strange position. TCU won nine games in 2024, but Dykes slid 13 spots in the national ranking and four spots in the Big 12. A few of the ascensions are fair, but Dykes’ coaching career has been undervalued,” the blurb read.

It pointed to his 25-10 record in his final three seasons at SMU, including their first 10-win season since the 1980s. Yes, the 2022 title game run raised expectations to surreal levels. But even in the afterglow, going from five to nine wins year-over-year is tangible progress.

As for Sonny Dykes, he wasn’t biting on media slights. He had bigger things in mind, like chasing trophies. “I think we’re at a point that if we’re not in the Big 12 championship game, then it’s probably not a successful season,” Dykes said in Frisco. “That’s where we want to be. We think we’re a team that year in, year out should be in the Big 12 title hunt. We think this team is capable of doing that. We’ll see how this plays out.” For a coach labeled an overachiever, he’s setting the floor at Arlington in December.

That confidence isn’t empty. TCU returns strong pieces on both sides of the ball. Dykes’ tactical DNA, Air Raid bones mixed with power-run wrinkles, tends to hum when he’s got a returning QB and a creative OC. And while the Gary Patterson fingerprints on the 2022 roster can’t be ignored, Dykes has now fully retooled the locker room in his own image. The Frogs may not be playoff-bound, but the noise about regression feels premature.

Sonny Dykes says it’s time for parity and a little discipline

Sonny Dykes didn’t mess around. The TCU coach has seen the chaos swirling around CFB in the NIL and transfer portal era. And he’s ready for a little structure. At Big 12 Media Days, Dykes spoke with the tone of a man who’s seen enough of the Wild West and wants a sheriff in town.

“It’s a step in the right direction that there is a system being developed to help provide some guidance and stop people who want to break the rules,” he said. But he wants more. He’s pushing for something CFB desperately lacks: real parity.

“College football is better when there’s parity. That’s what makes the NFL great,” Dykes explained. “There are 16, 18 teams in the NFL that have a legitimate chance to go to the Super Bowl and win a championship. That’s more than 50% of the league. Is that the case in college football? No, it’s certainly not.” His solution? Level the playing field. “We need to have as much parity in the game that we can possibly have. The only way you can do that is by having revenue sharing, which we finally have, but also controlling the NIL money that is made on top of that.”

He’s not anti-NIL. Far from it. “The players are being compensated, the players have freedom to make decisions that are going to benefit them and their families. It’s about time that they have those,” Dykes said. “It’s resulted in some awkward situations for all of us involved in the game, but I think it’s where it needs to be.” The coach wants accountability. Bad actors out, and a high-functioning system in. In a sport that’s evolving fast, Sonny Dykes is raising his hand and asking for rules.