A Frog’s Lair: TCU Coach Sonny Dykes' Office a Trip Through College Football History

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During season, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes spends more than a share of 24 hours each day in the offices of the football program.

Getting ready for a football game each week requires grinding hours of preparation. That’s how a team can know exactly what to do to beat Baylor on the road as time expires.

Dykes’ office is fit for a chief executive officer, which, ultimately, he is.

It’s spacious with all the amenities and enough mementos to double as a college football museum.

Dykes, Fort Worth Inc.’s Person of the Year in 2023, gave us a tour during the off-season. He’s too busy to do that kind of stuff in-season. Here’s what we discovered.

Perhaps the most valuable keepsake in Dykes’ office is a letter from President George H.W. Bush to Dykes’ father, Spike. In it the former president expresses his condolences on the passing of Dykes’ mother, Sharon. Bush and Spike were friends from their days in Midland, where Spike was a high school football coach.

What better way symbolically to urge your players forward than with spurs? These were a gift to Dykes from Mary Ralph Lowe, TCU trustee.

“The Masked Rider” from Texas Tech is an heirloom passed down from his father, Spike, who died in 2017. Spike coached at Tech from 1986-99.

Football is important, of course, but the real reason parents get up in the morning is because of their kids. A message from Dykes’ son, Daniel, is a heady reminder for the coach of what life is really about.

One of a number of trinkets that will remind the coach and visitors of the magic of 2022: a helmet from the Jim Thorpe Award presentation. The award was won by TCU defensive back Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson.

Dykes has always expressed his appreciation for what happened at TCU before he arrived. In the set of shelves second from the right, in the middle, is the Rose Bowl Trophy of 2011.

Dykes won 10 national coach of the year awards in his first season leading the Horned Frogs. The most prized of them all is the Eddie Robinson Award, named for the former Grambling legend.

This only looks like a football. It sparkles like the night sky in the far reaches of Big Bend. This was a gift from Phil Knight, Nike chairman emeritus.