LOS ANGELES (January 7, 2023) – TCU head coach Sonny Dykes was officially presented with the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award on Saturday evening at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. The honor is selected by the Football Writers Association of America and presented by the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Representatives from both organizations as well as TCU athletic department officials and many Dykes family members were on hand for the trophy presentation.
Dykes has produced one of the greatest debut seasons in college football history. After his TCU squad was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll, he directed the Horned Frogs to a perfect 12-0 regular season and the No. 3 spot in both polls and the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings. Despite a hard-fought 31-28 overtime loss to No. 9 Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship, Dykes and the Frogs earned the No. 3 seed for the College Football Playoff, just the second team to get the CFP after beginning the season unranked in both major polls. Despite being a heavy underdog, TCU shocked No. 2 Michigan in the CFP Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl with a thrilling 51-45 victory to set up Monday’s CFP Championship showdown with top-ranked Georgia.
The Horned Frogs thrilled fans throughout the season with comeback victories behind a dynamic offense that produced a Heisman Trophy finalist in quarterback Max Duggan. The win over Michigan was TCU’s sixth this season over a nationally-ranked opponent.
Dykes was selected for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award in voting by the entire FWAA membership. While this is the first Eddie Robinson Award for Dykes, it is the third time a TCU coach has been honored as Gary Patterson was recognized in 2009 and 2014. TCU’s three Eddie Robinson Awards is tied for third all-time behind Ohio State (5) and Notre Dame (4). LSU and Penn State also claim three. Dykes was also a finalist for the Robinson Award in 2019 while head coach at SMU.
“On behalf of the Sugar Bowl Committee, I want to congratulate Coach Dykes on a memorable season,” said Lloyd Frischhertz, President of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Committee. “It’s truly amazing that in his first year, he has lifted the TCU program to heights not seen since the early days of college football and the school’s national championship Sugar Bowl teams. While achieving that success, he has shown class and sportsmanship worthy of being associated with the name of the legendary Coach Robinson.”
In addition to earning the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, Dykes was the unanimous Big 12 Coach of the Year after becoming the first coach in conference history to start 12-0 in his first season. TCU is the first Big 12 team since 2009 to finish the regular season 12-0 and Dykes is just the fourth head coach since 1996 to reach that mark. TCU is also the Big 12’s first 9-0 regular-season league champion since 2016.
“On behalf of the Eddie Robinson Family, I want to congratulate Coach Sonny Dykes for being named the 2022 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year. What a remarkable first season guiding the TCU Horned Frogs Program to the College Football Playoffs,” said Eddie Robinson III, the grandson of Coach Eddie Robinson. “Coach Dykes exemplifies what the “Eddie” Award represents.”
“Sonny Dykes, in his first year at TCU, put together one of college football’s most exciting and successful teams. The Horned Frogs were never out of a game and posted comeback after comeback behind quarterback Max Duggan. Not surprising, our FWAA members chose Dykes as our Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year over others in a very strong field. Congratulations to Coach Dykes for a fine regular season,” said Steve Richardson, Executive Director of the FWAA.
TCU’s five wins over ranked opponents ties for the national lead this season. The Horned Frogs had 21 players receive All-Big 12 recognition from the conference’s head coaches. The FWAA recognized four TCU players on its 54-member All-America team, the most-ever for TCU in one season, with offensive lineman Steve Avila and punt returner Darius Davis honored as first-team members and quarterback Max Duggan and cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson on the second team. Avila was a semifinalist for the FWAA’s 2022 Outland Trophy. Duggan is a finalist for the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Manning Award for the top quarterback in the nation – the Manning Award winner is selected after the completion of the bowls and playoff.
During his career Dykes has also been head coach at Louisiana Tech (2010-12) and Cal (2013-16) and has been an assistant to head coaches Mike Stoops (Arizona), the late Mike Leach (Texas Tech) and Hal Mumme (Kentucky). He is the son of the late Spike Dykes, who coached Texas Tech in a school-record seven bowl games and was elected to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
In addition to Dykes, the other finalists for the Robinson Award were Mike Elko, Duke; Willie Fritz, Tulane; Jim Harbaugh, Michigan; Lincoln Riley, USC; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Jon Sumrall, Troy; and Jeff Traylor, UTSA. Dykes will receive the iconic bust of the late Robinson, a College Football Hall of Fame coach at Grambling State University for 55 years and winner of 408 career games.
The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State's Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. Beginning in 1997, the FWAA Coach of the Year Award has been named in honor of the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons.
Robinson, who passed away in 2007, won 70.7 percent of his games during his illustrious career. Robinson's teams won or tied for 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships after joining the league in 1959. His Tigers teams won nine Black College Football Championships during his career, all of it at Grambling.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 100 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 89-year history. The 90th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled for January 1, 2024. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.2 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit allstatesugarbowl.org.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its programs and initiatives, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at 214-870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com.
2022 Eddie Robinson Award
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