BYU, TCU coaches share a lot of respect for each other, programs

PROVO — BYU's history with TCU dates back to a first meeting in 1987, a meandering path through two conferences before reuniting in the two teams' first Big 12 meeting Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas (1:30 p.m. MT, ESPN).

The Cougars and Horned Frogs didn't quite have a "Revivalry" — the name given to the Big 12 rivalry game between TCU and Baylor, the only two religious institutions in the league before BYU joined the league this year.

But there was something of a rivalry rekindled from the duo's days in the Mountain West, back when the Cougars, Horned Frogs and University of Utah exchanged trophies for much of the mid- to late-aughts.

"I remember three phenomenal teams, like the '08 Utah Sugar Bowl team and the '09 and 2010 TCU teams, going to BCS games," said BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill, who coached at Utah from 2001-13. "Each of those three teams won conference championships in those stretches, and it was a dogfight every time we played one another.

"TCU's got a great program and great tradition; they did phenomenal things under Gary Patterson and on to the new staff that went to a national championship last year. This is a well-coached team that knows how to play good football, and has done so for a long time."

Revivalry 2 aside, the two former conference foes in the Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences will rekindle the first meeting since TCU won its fourth-straight in 2011 this weekend, a win that vaulted to Frogs to 6-5 all-time against the Cougars at then-Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

That TCU team went on to beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and finished the year ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll. It also helped propel the Horned Frogs into the Big 12, where they've won double-digit games in a season four times including last year's 13-2 squad that finished second nationally to Georgia.

That was Sonny Dykes' first year leading the program, a surprise start to any tenure for the former SMU head coach (among many other stops). But the early success illustrates the tenured college football coach's career, according to BYU's Kalani Sitake.

"I have a lot of appreciation for what Sonny does as a coach, and he and his wife Kate are amazing together in leading young men and programs. I consider him a friend," Sitake said of the TCU coach who is 3-3 in his second season. "I have tons of respect for him, and his program played for the national championship last year. They have a lot of guys who are talented and who know success."

Dykes, a former Texas Tech baseball player, has been coaching football since he was a Texas high school coach in 1994. The son of the late Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes, a close friend of the late BYU legend LaVell Edwards who also helped pioneer the passing game during a 40-year career, got his start at J.J. Pearce High and quickly rose through the ranks at Kentucky, Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech, Cal and SMU before his current job in 2022.

Dykes was the offensive coordinator at Arizona during a 20-7 loss to BYU in 2007, then turned it around a year later with a 31-21 win, and grew up on the BYU passing game.

"Just a good, solid football team; that's the bottom line," Dykes said of the current Cougars. "You look at them, and they're good on offense, good on defense, good on special teams. It's a solid team, they don't make a lot of mistakes, and they're good in the red zone. They're good on third downs. They just don't make a lot of mistakes; very few penalties. What we're not doing, they're playing winning football. They're 4-1, and that's why."

He also took the head coach job at Cal for four years that included Christian Stewart out-dueling Jared Goff in a 42-35 win in 2014, and he and his wife Kate have come to know Sitake and his wife Timberly through coaches' association events with Nike, Pebble Beach golf club and more.

"Kalani's a lot of fun," Dykes said of the eighth-year head coach and former BYU fullback. "He's a big personality, and just a really cool guy. He's one of those guys who probably looks a lot different on the sidelines than he is off the field. Fun-loving guy; people just gravitate toward him, and he has a great personality."

But the fun-loving nature masks a fierce competitor and respecter of the game, he added.

"He really respects football. That's what I love about him; he always wants to talk football," Dykes said. "He loves the game. I think he's very appreciative that he has a chance to coach at BYU. It's the way the game is supposed to be: guys who love their job and are appreciative that they have it. They make people better, and Kalani is one of those guys who does that."

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