TCU Head Coach Dykes talks about the 2023 season and the improvement of both the offense and defense.
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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:03 >> Coach, you've been through a few senior days.
00:05 >> Yeah. >> To go through that one like that,
00:07 and how rewarding was that for these guys?
00:09 >> Yeah, it was good.
00:11 I mean, number one, we had a lot of guys, and I kinda talked about this earlier,
00:15 and a lot of guys that kinda got here in different ways.
00:18 And that's what's interesting about college football now, is it's just,
00:23 you don't have that many guys that go someplace and stay their whole career.
00:29 And there's a number of players that have done that, and
00:32 then we also had some guys that we were able to add last year.
00:34 And some walk-ons that have been really significant contributors.
00:39 So for me, it was really rewarding just to see those guys
00:48 that have been in this program for a long time, the players I've talked about before.
00:53 Be able to go out and play well on Saturday and to win.
01:00 And I think you gotta give our guys a ton of credit.
01:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]
01:06 The last two years have been a lot, you know what I mean?
01:10 I mean, you think about what these guys have been through.
01:12 Coaching change is hard on players, just because you wake up one day and
01:21 sometimes a coach you chose a school for isn't there anymore.
01:24 These relationships you have with these people and this trust and
01:27 all these things kinda go out the window.
01:29 And all of a sudden, it's a brand new group of people and
01:32 challenges in front of you.
01:35 And so it can be difficult and just incredibly rewarding for
01:41 those guys to kinda weather that storm, to have the success that we had last year.
01:46 Which in itself was quite a burden for a lot of those guys to carry.
01:50 I mean, it's just hard to go through that the first time.
01:56 And it was a long grind, it was a lot of pressure, and it was hard on guys.
02:01 And so for them to go through that and
02:03 then to deal with some of the disappointment that we've had this year.
02:06 And losing as many games as we had basically on the last possession of
02:10 the game, it's been hard.
02:13 It's been a challenging couple of years.
02:17 And just really proud of those guys for having a great mindset, for
02:22 playing as hard as they have and practicing as hard as they have and
02:25 being good teammates.
02:26 And dealing with all the success and all the failure and
02:31 all the stuff in between.
02:32 And just really proud of who they are and
02:36 the way that they represent this university.
02:37 And to go out there and to play well on Saturday when it's probably easy not to.
02:42 And so just really proud of them for fighting their tail off.
02:45 And I think it shows a lot about who they are as individuals and
02:49 hopefully about where we are as a program.
02:52 And again, I know everybody's disappointed it hadn't gone the way we
02:56 wanted it to, but that's college football.
03:00 This stuff doesn't happen, I mean, you don't show up,
03:04 sprinkle fairy dust and all your problems are gone.
03:07 I mean, it's just not the way it works.
03:09 And so it's a grind, but I'm really proud of those guys for
03:14 having that kind of mentality and that mindset.
03:17 And just being a good teammate.
03:20 I think at the end of the day, that's probably the biggest lesson,
03:25 hopefully, that these guys learn through all of this is,
03:27 how do you become a good teammate?
03:32 And that makes you a good employee someday, hopefully a good boss someday,
03:36 hopefully a good husband someday, and hopefully an even better father someday.
03:40 And I think that we're lucky to get to work in this setting because we get to see
03:45 it every day, and those players get to see guys in this room that are great teammates.
03:50 And guys that are learning how to be great teammates.
03:54 And I think it helps them when they have kids someday, and
03:58 they have to make sacrifices, and they have to do things that they don't
04:03 necessarily wanna do because they feel like it's the right thing to do.
04:07 And so that's the great lesson that these guys learn, man.
04:10 And I think that's why so many of these guys in this room here every day are gonna
04:15 be really, really successful, is because those are the lessons they learn.
04:21 >> With Kimba and Jeff coming from the same coaching tree,
04:23 I'm curious, how similar are the offenses they-
04:25 >> Yeah, very similar.
04:26 Yeah, very similar offenses.
04:28 I would imagine if we got their call sheet,
04:31 most of our guys would probably know the plays.
04:33 Yeah, I think that they're similar.
04:36 I mean, they're obviously different.
04:37 I think what happens as coaches is you have a background.
04:42 We all come from somewhere, and I had the Airbnb background.
04:47 And then you go places and you add a little something to it,
04:51 a little something to it, and you have success.
04:55 Or you don't have as much success, and you adapt a little bit more.
04:57 And then you go to a certain school and
04:59 you build that offensive defense around those players.
05:03 And so it comes from the same place, for sure.
05:08 It's very similar.
05:09 Again, I think that we're, if I'm not mistaken, I think we're 14th or
05:14 13th in the country in total offense.
05:17 And I think they're in the top ten, if I'm not mistaken.
05:19 I think Oklahoma's maybe eighth in offense.
05:23 So I mean, both offenses have been very successful,
05:26 in terms of being able to move the football.
05:28 Now, again, ours, and I'm sure they would say the same thing.
05:33 I mean, those offenses are designed to, most importantly,
05:36 to give you a chance to win.
05:37 And I think that's the whole thing.
05:41 And they have a senior quarterback that's got 50 plus starts.
05:46 And we have a young quarterback who has really grown fast, and
05:52 I'm really proud of what he's doing and how much he's improving.
05:55 And certainly all those are kind of factors in winning and
05:59 losing football games.
06:00 >> Are you guys prepping for two quarterbacks, Coach?
06:04 >> Yeah, yeah, I think we'll have to, yeah.
06:06 Yeah, I think that hard to know exactly who we're gonna see.
06:10 We'll prep for two, and yeah, definitely we'll have to do that.
06:15 >> Have you learned much from watching Jackson Arnold?
06:18 He hasn't had a lot.
06:18 >> Yeah, doesn't have a huge sample size.
06:20 I think he's played in five games, if I'm not mistaken.
06:22 And so there's enough there to kind of have an idea of what they're comfortable
06:26 doing with him, what he likes to do, and what he's comfortable with.
06:29 So that gives you a little bit of a starting point.
06:32 >> They brought in a lot of guys to the transfer portal.
06:35 They're seeing improvement.
06:36 What were you saying from the defense this year compared to last year?
06:39 >> I think just an understanding of the scheme.
06:41 Last year, I think that they were learning.
06:43 This year, they're just much further along.
06:47 I mean, I think there's more talent.
06:49 I think the guys, there's more people.
06:52 I think they have more depth, more competition, all that type of thing.
06:56 But I think the biggest thing is just they're in the right spot more now than
07:00 they were.
07:00 And they understand the defense, and they're starting to execute it really well.
07:04 And you can tell the guys are playing fast, and they're comfortable.
07:06 And I think that's the biggest difference.
07:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]
07:12 >> Andrew Coker didn't play.
07:14 >> Yeah.
07:14 >> How did he handle that?
07:18 >> Yeah, I think he was disappointed.
07:19 He was just so banged up.
07:22 I think he practiced today.
07:24 And so I think there's a good chance we'll see him on Friday.
07:28 I'm hoping that we can, and he can have an opportunity to play.
07:30 I think the big thing, the biggest thing I told Andrew is, look,
07:33 I don't wanna put you out there if you're not healthy.
07:35 And he wants to play, and he wants to be a great teammate for his guys,
07:40 and support this football team, and the offense and the offensive line.
07:45 So I anticipate seeing him Friday, and hopefully he'll play well.
07:50 >> How did you feel that Mike Nichols played with Mike Nichols?
07:54 >> I thought Mike did good.
07:55 I thought Mike took a step in the right direction, for sure.
07:57 I'm excited.
07:58 The more Mike plays, the better Mike gets.
08:00 And I think he continues to improve.
08:05 I really, I think Mike's got a lot of potential, a lot of upside.
08:08 I think he gets more and more consistent all the time.
08:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]
08:15 >> You talked about the offensive line and the game, obviously inconsistencies.
08:20 Is there any particular thing that's sticking out about the inconsistencies,
08:24 why it's not successful?
08:26 >> Well, I mean, look, I think, number one, I think that there's,
08:29 just like I talked about, I mean, look,
08:31 there's two kind of things that happen in the game.
08:34 Number one, I thought we passed protected incredibly well.
08:38 You know what I mean?
08:39 I think we dropped back and through the ball a number of times.
08:43 Josh pretty much was clean.
08:47 And saw some different looks and some stuff that was different.
08:53 Guys adapted and picked it up well.
08:55 And I thought we did a good job of not letting any free hitters run to Josh.
08:59 So I think that was the big thing.
09:00 I thought our pass protection was really, really good.
09:04 You go back and you look at the second half of the Texas game,
09:06 I think you could say the same thing.
09:09 The pass protection was really, really good.
09:11 And we ran the ball really good in the second half of the Texas game.
09:15 I think this week, didn't run it as well as we should have.
09:18 Some of the things again schematically were some things that Baylor did.
09:22 I mean, they played their tackles head up, tried to prevent double teams.
09:26 Which again, that helps you in the run game,
09:31 probably hurts your ability to rush the passer.
09:34 And so it's like anything else, you're kind of paying Peter to pay Paul.
09:38 Or it should be robbing Peter to pay Paul, but that's kind of what coaches do.
09:42 You know what I'm saying?
09:42 That's what we do sometimes when we have schemes.
09:46 We all wanna have a line that you can stick over the top of an offensive line.
09:53 And it can dominate, can hold up against the run in the pass,
09:58 there's just not many guys that can do that.
09:59 So we've had kind of a lot of shuffling around on the offensive line this year,
10:04 in terms of who starts and where guys played.
10:06 And I don't think that any of us are satisfied with where we are.
10:12 But again, I do think that there has been some moments where we really played well,
10:17 but there's been some inconsistent moments as well.
10:19 And I think those are things we've gotta improve on.
10:21 And I think that always comes down to fundamentals.
10:23 We've gotta continue to develop our guys fundamentally.
10:26 We've gotta continue to build depth with that group from a recruiting and
10:30 development standpoint.
10:32 Gotta continue to play with an edge, play physical, play tough.
10:37 Play to that standard of being a tough unit.
10:41 I think at the end of the day, what makes an offensive line really good is that
10:44 those guys are, play together as five, which that takes time.
10:49 But that they play with a physical tough mentality, week after week after week.
10:54 And that's what you wanna achieve, and the great offensive lines do that.
10:57 >> How much did you guys win on Friday, you reached a bowl game?
11:01 I think you get 15 bowl practices.
11:03 >> Yeah, big deal.
11:04 Yeah, yeah.
11:06 Yeah, if we were able to win on Friday,
11:08 which I think our guys are gonna play the tail off.
11:12 I think our guys, it's gonna be really important to them to win.
11:16 But I think we'll be so excited to get to practice, we'll probably stop at
11:20 a roadside deal and practice maybe on the way home after the game on Friday.
11:25 I mean, I think the guys, they look, they wanna get to a bowl game.
11:28 They really, I think the guys on this team like this team.
11:32 I think the guys on this team are frustrated that we're in this position now.
11:35 I think they feel the same way I do that we want more games,
11:38 cuz we want a chance to prove ourselves.
11:41 Because we have not played to the level that we think we're capable of playing at.
11:45 And that's, we wanna make sure we do that on Friday and get to keep playing.
11:51 >> Last year, Oklahoma gave up a bunch of big plays.
11:55 >> Yeah. >> That they're better at.
11:56 >> Yeah, very much so, yeah.
11:57 >> What changed?
11:58 >> Yeah, big thing is, again, I think I understand the scheme better.
12:00 I think that's the biggest thing, just being in the right place defensively,
12:03 that limits big plays.
12:05 And I think their communication's better.
12:06 Like I said, there's just more certainty, I think,
12:11 defensively than there was last year.
12:12 And they were learning a new scheme, and
12:14 that's part of what happens sometimes when you're learning.
12:18 And Oklahoma does a lot of things on defense.
12:21 They do a nice job.
12:22 I mean, you're gonna see a lot of different looks, a lot of different
12:24 coverages, a lot of different unique looks.
12:28 And I'm sure it takes a while to learn the scheme.
12:31 And they're so much further along this year than they were last year.
12:34 >> Can you just touch on Danny Stutzman and that tough matchup?
12:37 >> Yeah, yeah, I mean, big and physical and athletic and plays with an edge.
12:42 That's what I like about him.
12:45 There's lots of good athletes out there and big guys, but
12:47 I love the way he plays.
12:48 You can tell it's really important to him.
12:51 He's got a lot of pride in his performance and the way he hustles and
12:55 the physical nature that he plays with.
12:57 And just all the stuff, he's kind of a throwback linebacker in a lot of ways.
13:01 And it's fun to watch him play.
13:03 I enjoy turning the tape on and watching him.
13:05 >> You hate to see this series end?
13:06 >> I do, yeah, I mean, yeah, I do.
13:12 I mean, it's just, it's interesting.
13:14 I mean, all this stuff.
13:16 I grew up watching Colorado and Nebraska play on Thanksgiving,
13:21 back in the old days when they were the big eight.
13:23 And Oklahoma State and Oklahoma playing Bedlam on Saturday after Thanksgiving.
13:28 And it's just kind of the way it used to be.
13:32 Obviously, in our state, it was Texas and Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day for
13:39 a long time, or on the day after Thanksgiving Day.
13:41 And so it's just, a lot of those things kind of have gone away.
13:44 And I suppose they say that's progress.
13:49 I don't know if I completely agree with it, but that's what they say.
13:52 >> Coach, there's maybe more parity this year than Big 12-
13:56 >> Yeah. >> Last year.
13:57 I mean, you guys yourselves are fourth possessions from being out.
13:59 >> Yeah, we are.
14:00 Yeah, thanks for reminding me.
14:01 >> Can you talk about that, how this league is-
14:05 >> Yeah, I mean, look.
14:06 I mean, it's obvious.
14:07 I mean, look, I mean,
14:12 it's these games come down to little bitty things.
14:17 You know what I mean?
14:18 And we were a great team last year of little bitty things, and
14:23 we have not been a good team this year of little bitty things.
14:26 And so that's kind of the difference between winning and losing.
14:29 It's a turnover here, it's a big play there.
14:31 It's a penalty here, it's a missed red zone opportunity there.
14:36 It's just all these things.
14:37 And again, for us, it's turnovers.
14:40 I mean, again, we've said this stat over and over.
14:42 We're 17-1 when we're even to win the turnover battle in two years.
14:46 So ain't real smart, but we gotta win the turnover battle.
14:52 You know what I mean?
14:52 And that's been the big thing for us.
14:54 And we lost it on Saturday, but somehow we were able to overcome that.
14:58 And we've gotta take care of the ball.
15:01 We happened to turn it over at the two yard line last week,
15:04 which was kind of our Achilles heel.
15:06 Not only was it a turnover, it was a missed red zone opportunity.
15:08 And those two things have been significant this year for us.
15:13 Again, you go back to Colorado week one, we threw two picks in the end zone.
15:19 And that's just kind of been what we've done this year.
15:23 And again, that always comes down to we have to coach better.
15:29 You know what I mean?
15:30 We have to do a better job in coaching.
15:31 And it starts with me.
15:33 And if you're not creating turnovers, you gotta figure out a way to create them.
15:37 And if you're turning it over too much,
15:38 you gotta figure out a way to stop turning it over.
15:40 And if you're bad in red zone offense,
15:43 you gotta figure out how to get better in red zone offense.
15:45 So those are just all things that we have to do moving forward.
15:50 And I think that's what we have to do on Saturday to give ourselves
15:55 a chance to win.
15:56 >> We'll go to two more questions if you have them.
15:58 >> Coach, I've been able to see this game change over the years from high school
16:03 till now.
16:04 Can you talk about what you've seen out of him since arriving at the-
16:06 >> Yeah, it's been fun to watch Nick.
16:08 I mean, he got here last year and he's grown up.
16:15 You know what I mean?
16:16 I think that's the cool thing.
16:17 Just in the two years I've been around him,
16:19 he just is a different person.
16:21 You know what I mean?
16:21 He's just got a lot of confidence, a lot of belief in his ability.
16:25 He's a playmaker.
16:27 He's one of those guys that he's around the football.
16:29 He's got a little bit of a sixth sense of knowing where things are and
16:34 how things are unfolding.
16:36 I think that's really, really important for that position.
16:39 Cuz really, people used to talk about the quarterback of the defense used to be
16:43 the middle linebacker.
16:44 I think in today's world,
16:46 the quarterback of the defense is really your safeties.
16:49 Just because they have to be able to play run and they gotta be able to play pass.
16:54 And they're involved in run fits, but
16:56 they also gotta be involved heavily in coverage, clearly.
17:00 And so it's a tough position to play.
17:01 There's a lot of stress on safeties.
17:05 And I think Nick is playing well because he's got confidence and
17:10 he can diagnose what's happening.
17:11 And he diagnoses it, I think, more quickly than he used to.
17:14 And I think, again, that comes from experience and confidence and hard work.
17:19 And I really like the way he's playing and he's been a good player for us.
17:23 >> Final question?
17:25 Thanks, Coach.
17:28 >> Okay, thank you guys.
17:29 >> Thanks.
17:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]