By Alex Al-Kazzaz
Earlier this week, the football program of Texas Christian University named its new head coach. After a dismal season and the sudden departure of longtime head coach Gary Patterson on Halloween, the Horned Frogs needed a new leader. A leader they know they can trust to bring TCU football back to a winning atmosphere.
Sonny Dykes is the new head coach for TCU. And what makes the hiring so interesting is that Dykes spent the last three seasons with Southern Methodist University! As we know, SMU is TCU's longtime historic crosstown rival! The battle of the Iron Skillet! Quite frankly, Dykes was the best man for the job.
Believe it or not, this isn't the first time Dykes has held a position with the Horned Frogs. In 2017, Dykes held a role as an analyst for the Horned Frogs before he took the head coaching job across town at SMU. Dykes finished his SMU stint with a 30-18 record. His overall record as a head coach is 71-63. Before his role at SMU, Dykes was head coach at Louisiana Tech University and the University of California at Berkeley.
According to ESPN, SMU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is joining Dykes at TCU. Several other coaches are expected to follow Dykes to Fort Worth, as well.
With Dykes along with several coaching staff jumping ship from SMU to TCU, a new chapter in the TCU-SMU rivalry is about to begin. Not many can say that they saw this coming; Dykes, the SMU head coach taking a head coaching job with their longtime archnemesis. Perhaps it's safe to say that the rivalry's level of intensity just got higher.
And so it begins...