After 22 seasons coaching at the school, Gary Patterson and TCU have agreed to part ways. Here are five potential head coach candidates for the TCU Horned Frogs.
1. Sonny Dykes
Currently, Sonny Dykes is the head coach at SMU. He has a 29-15 record in five seasons at the school. Dykes has also coached at Louisiana Tech and Cal in his career. This season, the Mustangs are having a quality season, as they sit with a 7-1 record. With their success, Dykes might have his eyes on some other jobs this offseason.
Most Texas schools want a coach with Texas ties, which makes Dykes a candidate. He is also a candidate for the Texas Tech job. Texas Tech is his alma mater, but according to CBS, Dykes is their target. If he wishes to stay in the Dallas area, he may just take the TCU job. Dykes is more of an offensive coach than Patterson, whose specialization was defense, but that could help them in the ultra-offensive Big 12.
2. Jeff Traylor
Jeff Traylor has done a great job at UTSA and now has them ranked. He is in his second year as their head coach and has posted a 15-5 overall record. In his first season, he posted a 7-5 record, but this season the Roadrunners are undefeated at 8-0. Traylor has moved himself up the ranks from a high school coach all the way to a head coach and has succeeded in his first college football head coaching opportunity. The Roadrunners have moved up all the way to 16 in the latest polls.
What complicates things is that Traylor just signed a contract extension with UTSA. He will also be up for a lot of the bigger jobs that are available this offseason. CBS is still reporting that Traylor is a top target for TCU. Traylor has been successful in Texas, which will be important for the TCU boosters. His recruiting ties from his days at UTSA and his time as a high school coach will help him greatly. UTSA seems to be making a concerted effort to keep Traylor, but a job in a bigger conference may be too good to turn down.
3. Billy Napier
Billy Napier has done wonders at Louisiana. He has been there for four seasons. In year one, he went 7-7. That was followed by an 11-win and 10-win (during COVID) season. This season, Napier has led the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 7-1 record. They are in play to possibly make a New Year’s Six Bowl Game at the end of the season if they can keep winning.
Because of his success at Louisiana, he will be one of the hottest names during the offseason for new jobs. Napier doesn’t have the ties to Texas that Traylor and Dykes have, but he has proven to be able to coach well and at Louisiana, he has had to recruit in Texas. If TCU can’t lure Dykes or Traylor, Napier would be a solid candidate for them to hire.
4. Jay Norvell
Jay Norvell has done a solid job at Nevada over the last five seasons. In his first season, the Wolf Pack won just three games. Since that point, they have been bowl eligible in every season. This year, they are 6-2 and have defeated a power five team in California. Norvell will be a candidate for a few jobs on the market this offseason.
Norvell has spent time in Big 12 territory as an assistant for Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas. He also has spent some time as an NFL assistant. At Nevada he has proven to be able to build a program and he still should have a decent amount of recruiting ties in Texas. Norvell may not be the flashiest hire, but TCU would be getting a solid coach.
5. Marcus Freeman
Freeman has been rising up the ranks as a defensive assistant. After playing linebacker at Ohio State, he was a graduate assistant for the school. Since that point, Freeman was an assistant at Kent State and Purdue. He helped Luke Fickell transform the Cincinnati program as a defensive coordinator. After four seasons at the school, he took the defensive coordinator job at Notre Dame.
If the Horned Frogs want to go with another defensive coach like Patterson, Freeman might be the best hire. He has never been a head coach before and he doesn’t have the recruiting ties to Texas. Freeman does have a unique defensive mind and was a huge part of the Cincinnati rebuild though.
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