TCU’s unlikely run to national championship game serves as blueprint for success in player empowerment era

LOS ANGELES — Few coaches have ever had the kind of success in their first season with a program that Sonny Dykes has experienced at TCU. And if the No. 3 Horned Frogs beat No. 1 Georgia on Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship, Dykes will become just the fourth coach in college football history to end that first campaign with a national title. TCU’s run has been unlikely but well-documented, but the seeds of 2022’s success were planted by a coach, and a staff, that wanted to make one thing clear from the beginning: This was a player-led operation. 

With player empowerment being one of the biggest ongoing stories in the sport, it’s fitting that the team garnering so much attention and adoration has described itself as a player-led group — and is led by a coach who supports those ongoing changes in college football. 

“I’m probably in the minority in terms of my belief that anything that’s good for the players, I view, is a good thing,” said Dykes during Saturday’s CFP media day. “And so NIL makes things complicated. It benefits the players. I think it’s a good thing. Transfer portal [is] complicated, hard for coaches. Good for players — can be, assuming guys make good decisions. I’m for it. 

“So, I think, that’s always been our thing is the game is changing daily,” he continued. “And it’s my job to adapt and not only keep up but try to be in front of those changes and to try to use every opportunity to make our team better and our program better. And, so, all those things I really, truly see as positives. I think it’s all about player empowerment. I’m a big believer in that.”

But Dykes didn’t win over the team by his support of NIL or the transfer portal. He and his staff built up players throughout the offseason, spring practice and fall camp, making it clear that if they were going to do anything special with this first season, the players would have to set the example. 

Dykes put in the work, too, like a one-off drop-in to the home of Quentin Johnston shortly after taking the job simply to meet with the star wide receiver’s family and discuss the upcoming year. His message to the entire team during those first weeks and months brought a sense of calm to a group that had become fractured amidst the uncharacteristic losing that had taken place in the previous 5-7 season. 

“He just seemed at peace,” said TCU cornerback Tre’vius…