The Horned Frogs moved on from long-time head coach Gary Patterson after 20-plus years in charge. Sonny Dykes became the head coach at TCU after the regular season, leaving crosstown rival SMU after four years in charge. He inherits a program that won five games in two of the past three seasons. His job is to return TCU to a yearly contender like it was during Patterson's prime. 

1. Can TCU snap its bowl drought? 

TCU’s last bowl game was 2018. The program won five games in 2019. The Texas Bowl was cancelled in 2020 after a 6-4 record during the pandemic-shortened season. Last year, TCU finished 5-7 for the second time in three years. Most of the players on the roster haven’t played in a bowl game or won more than six games in a regular season. 

The 2022 schedule sets up favorably if Dykes and his staff answer questions at quarterback and along the defensive line. TCU opens with a winnable road game against Colorado in Week 1. The Horned Frogs’ home opener is the next week against Tarleton. Week 3 is a fun matchup at SMU. A 3-0 start to the season is more likely than not. A win over Kansas in Week 5, therefor, could have TCU at 4-1 with its lone loss coming at home against Oklahoma in Week 4. 

A bowl invite should be the floor at a program such as TCU. Dykes’ squad was invited to a bowl game in each of the last three seasons. Dykes is on his fourth stop as a head coach. His teams have never been better than 5-7 in his first season. He did say that the TCU roster is the best he’s ever inherited. 

2. Does the new offensive system help the starting quarterback? 

Dykes is familiar with the players in his quarterback room. His SMU squads battled against Max Duggan in two of the past three seasons. Dykes knows the background and pedigree of Chandler Morris thanks to Morris’ father and his career at Highland Park. Dykes is an offensive coach with a track record of immediate success with quarterbacks dating back to his time at Arizona with Nick Foles. Dykes is comfortable with transfer quarterbacks taking over in year one, so he should be fine with inherited quarterbacks. Duggan and Morris proved in 2021 that their best is good enough. Dykes’ job is manufacture consistency for whichever quarterback emerges as the starter. 

“A change in philosophy will help them,” Dykes said during our magazine meeting. “We won’t ask them to do as much with a smaller menu of plays. They’re confident and comfortable in what he is doing.”

3. Is there enough depth along the defensive line? 

The fact that TCU must improve against the run in 2022 is no secret. Dykes himself watched his former team run for more than 350 yards in a win at TCU in 2021. A change in scheme is underway for the Horned Frogs with defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie bringing an odd-man front to Fort Worth. The program is ditching the 4-2-5 made famous, in large part, by Patterson. The long-term advantage is that the 3-3-5 defense allows for more athleticism on the field. The short-term disadvantage is that the defensive linemen on TCU’s roster were recruited for a different scheme. 

Sure, maybe you need one fewer defensive lineman in the new system, but it requires those three defenders up front to be big, powerful players who take up blocks for the linebackers and safeties. TCU’s roster isn’t quite there. Expect the Horned Frogs to adjust the scheme early in Gillespie’s tenure as the program cycles out the old body types for preferred looks. It’s also likely that TCU attacks the transfer portal in the summer for more help up front and even at linebacker.