Sonny Dykes had a night to forget against his former team on Saturday, and it ended even earlier than expected for the TCU coach.
Dykes is in his third season as the head coach at TCU. He coached at SMU for four-plus seasons prior to landing his current job. SMU cruised to a 66-42 win over the Horned Frogs on Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas, but Dykes was barely around for any of the second half.
TCU trailed 41-21 at halftime but opened up the second half with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The score was wiped off the board because of a holding penalty, which infuriated Dykes. The coach received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing and kept chirping the officials at the start of TCU’s drive. Dykes was then hit with another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and ejected.
As he made the long walk to the visiting locker room, Dykes was booed mercilessly by SMU fans. He pumped his fists at the crowd.
Sonny Dykes with an all-time heel turn!
Picks up two unsportsmanlike conducts in a row chirping the officials, gets ejected and then fist pumps his former school’s crowd.
The Iron Skillet is sizzling! pic.twitter.com/kG8VVAMQui
— Carter Yates (@Carter_Yates16) September 21, 2024
Dykes may have looked like he was soaking in the moment, but he expressed regret during his postgame press conference. He said the long walk to the locker room was “not one you ever want to make.”
“I apologize to our players and our fans. That should never happen,” Dykes said. “I was disappointed it happened. I thought it was maybe unwarranted, but it happened and that’s my responsibility to make sure that never happens. 100 percent my fault. Obviously, I gotta be better. Obviously, I wasn’t there to coach my team in the second half very long, and obviously that’s a huge mistake.”
Sonny Dykes on his ejection: "That's my responsibility to make sure that never happens. 100% my fault."
On the walk off the field back at SMU: "It was a long walk. Not one you ever want to make."#GoFrogs #PonyUpDallas pic.twitter.com/FeNIt1ogYJ
— Jeff Kolb (@JeffKolbFOX4) September 22, 2024
SMU enjoyed a lot of success under Dykes, which is how he landed the TCU job. Mustangs fans clearly still have some bitterness toward him for leaving, however, and they could not have asked for a better way to be able to express that.
