TCU ready to build off playoff foundation in Fort Worth

Sonny Dykes arrived in Fort Worth with a mission to return TCU to a perennial postseason qualifier that could challenge for a Big 12 title. The Horned Frogs reached 19 bowl games in the last 21 seasons spanning from 1998 to 2018, but the program hadn’t played past November in the three seasons preceding Dykes move across DFW from SMU. 

Expectations were low for Dykes & Co. The Horned Frogs were picked seventh in the Big 12 and entered the season unranked. They ended the regular season 12-0 and then beat Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl to become the first Texas program to play for a national title since Texas in 2009. Now, expectations are higher, even though TCU ranks 118th in returning production, according to ESPN. That’s the thing about smashing the ceiling – it becomes the floor. 

“We want to learn from last year and appreciate the experience, but this is a different team,” Dykes said. “What we need to be mindful about is not saying we’re moving on while always bringing it back up. We need to let it go and start anew.” 

TCU lost its quarterback, top rusher, best receiver, and an early round NFL draft pick from the interior of the offensive line. Offensive coordinator Garrett Riley also left. Only 33 percent of the 2022 offensive production returns, which ranks second lowest in the 131-team FBS. The defense is better off with 71 percent returning, but Joe Gillespie’s unit must replace Thorpe Award winner Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, leading sacker Dylan Horton, and a mainstay at linebacker in Dee Winters. 

“This is a different team,” Dykes said. “We have new assistants, we have new players, and even most of the familiar faces are in new roles this season. You must start over and recreate it every single year.”

The transfer portal might be a new idea to some coaches around the Big 12, but not to Dykes. He brought Nick Foles to Arizona back in his offensive coordinator days. Helping former DFW high school standouts return home as transfers for a second shot at college football glory is exactly how he helped rival SMU rejuvenate the program and achieve a 10-win season for the first time since the Death Penalty. 

The Horned Frogs signed a top 20 transfer class that included former local standouts who signed with Alabama, such as wide receiver JoJo Earle and offensive lineman Tommy Brockermeyer. Six of the 11 transfers added by the end of April previously played football in the SEC, and nine of the 11 played Power Five football at their previous stops. The two that weren’t – defensive lineman Rick D’Abreu (East Carolina) and offensive lineman Willis Patrick (Jackson State) – were all-conference performers. 

Those transfers were signed to supplement the returning talent. Eight defensive starters are back, including leading tackler Johnny Hodges. The former Navy transfer was a second-team All-Big 12 selection who arrived at TCU – for the first time in his life – 364 days before playing in a national championship game. He’s grateful but not satisfied with 2022, a feeling that he says exists throughout the locker room and amongst the whole squad. 

“We all still have chips on our shoulders because we don’t feel like we showed our best in the final game of the year,” he said. “We went from a nobody to a somebody. The best way to attack it is to bring it to every workout, practice, meeting. Do it all at a very high level because we’re the target.” 

DCTF'S TAKE

Sonny Dykes & Co. raised expectations in Fort Worth by reaching the national championship game in Year 1 at TCU. Living up to those expectations becomes a fresh challenge for a new-look starting lineup. The Horned Frogs want to be perennial contenders in the Big 12, and their ability to replace star players with recruits and transfers will be put to quick test. The same test that rival Baylor failed in 2022. If Chandler Morris can duplicate Max Duggan’s output, watch out.