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TCU football coach Sonny Dykes held his weekly press conference on Tuesday and tackled two issues that directly impact his job: fan criticism and the accuracy of team payroll figures. Neither response is likely to appease supporters who have already formed strong opinions about the fifth-year coach.
During Saturday's come-from-behind victory over Kansas in Fort Worth, some fans wore bags over their heads and chanted "Fire Sonny." The unrest has been building since TCU lost its season opener to North Carolina in Dublin and has continued through a lackluster regular season. When asked about the chants, Dykes said he didn't notice them and was focused on his job. However, it's generally accepted that coaches and players who claim to ignore outside noise are not being entirely truthful—they may not hear it directly, but family and friends often relay the messages. College coaches, in particular, live in a bubble that makes avoiding such noise difficult.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule recently shared a disturbing incident at a press conference, stating that a man approached his 13-year-old daughter and cursed at her about her father. Rhule added, "I'm not going to keep coaching if it means my kids grow up screwed up. I'm not going to see my daughter shook." Dykes acknowledged similar experiences at TCU, saying, "We've had some of that ourselves here, and that's just part of it. It's the bad part of it, but I don't concern myself with that. I don't have any control over it." He emphasized that such incidents don't affect his work ethic.
Dykes, who has been around the coaching profession his entire life thanks to his father, understands the scrutiny that comes with being TCU's highest-paid employee. Job performance evaluations in college sports are often irrational and increasingly cruel, especially with social media amplifying abusive fan behavior. No one should target a player's or coach's family.
Key Analysis
Dykes also took issue with a data point about his team's payroll. Major college football coaches often try to convince the public that their job is nearly impossible, and in the current pay-for-play era, their main complaint is not having enough money to pay players. Earlier this season, The Athletic published a report on Power Four program payrolls, stating TCU's payroll was between $22 million and $25 million. However, high-ranking TCU administrators claim the football team's payroll is close to $30 million, second in the Big 12 only to Texas Tech. Dykes disputed the reported figures, saying, "The numbers that are being talked about are nowhere near the truth—just FYI. Not even close. It's accounting. There are a lot of different ways to do accounting."
Dykes' point about accounting is valid—creative accountants can manipulate numbers for various purposes, much like in professional sports or tax reporting. Almost every coach having a subpar season claims their payroll isn't the highest and that they're doing more with less. Dykes repeatedly stated that the figures and the notion that TCU has the second-highest payroll in the Big 12 are wrong. The truth is unknowable because financials are private, and players, agents, coaches, and administrators all have incentives to lie. Dykes expressed support for transparency regarding team payrolls, a detail not yet included in the proposed Protect College Sports Act. Meanwhile, TCU sits at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12, the head coach is under fire, and no one is particularly pleased with the situation.
Originally reported by star_telegram.