{"id":150640,"date":"2026-02-04T14:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/150640\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T14:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:47:16","slug":"at-tcu-sonny-dykes-is-stepping-into-the-classroom-to-share-insight-on-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/150640\/","title":{"rendered":"At TCU, Sonny Dykes is stepping into the classroom to share insight on leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT WORTH \u2013 The last class Sonny Dykes<\/a> taught was creative writing at Navarro College in the mid-\u201990s, when he needed the stipend. As coach of the running backs, he was making $288 a month. His car payment was $250. Gave him reason to question his calling.<\/p>\n

Here he was a 27-year-old college graduate, coaching, teaching, mowing lawns and bagging groceries, and he still couldn\u2019t make ends meet.<\/p>\n

Sonny told those stories and others to the two dozen students in his class on \u201cLeadership in Action: Lessons from the Gridiron to the Boardroom\u201d Monday night at TCU<\/a>, which pays him $7 million to coach football, not play professor.<\/p>\n

\"TCU<\/p>\n

TCU football coach Sonny Dykes teaches a leadership class at the Neeley School of Business on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

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But this is what you do when you\u2019re afflicted with a naturally curious mind, and, more to the point, your boss asks.<\/p>\n

For the record, there\u2019s precedent for this sort of thing. Houston\u2019s Willie Fritz, Minnesota\u2019s P.J. Fleck and Colorado\u2019s Deion Sanders<\/a> are teaching classes this spring. Bill Snyder, one of the best ever, did it at Kansas State.<\/p>\n

Mike Leach, among Sonny\u2019s eclectic cast of mentors, once taught a spring course at Washington State on Geronimo, the legendary Apache leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cInsurgent Warfare and Football Strategies,\u201d Leach called it.<\/p>\n

The Pirate loved Geronimo, Sonny said. Even wrote a book about him. Compared Geronimo\u2019s military plans to Air Raid tactics, if you can believe that. When he learned of Leach\u2019s class, Sonny figured it\u2019d be \u201ca pretty fun thing to do sometime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The time came last fall when TCU\u2019s chancellor, Victor Boschini, asked if he\u2019d be interested in teaching a class on leadership, and he readily agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I didn\u2019t think anyone would follow up,\u201d Sonny said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCourse, they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The class meets Monday nights for nearly three hours, which is a lot, even if your teacher is a high-profile coach who brings good guest speakers to class. This week\u2019s panel was a trio of quarterbacks: Shane Buechele,<\/a> who played for him at SMU and is now Josh Allen\u2019s backup in Buffalo; Max Duggan<\/a>, who took his first TCU team to the national title game; and Ken Seals, who came off the bench after Josh Hoover left for Indiana to orchestrate an upset of USC in the Alamo Bowl.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"TCU<\/p>\n

TCU football coach Sonny Dykes (far left) listens as quarterbacks (from left) Shane Buechele, Ken Seals and Max Duggan speak to students during a leadership class at the Neeley School of Business on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Sonny warmed up the class, meeting for the second time this semester, with his own story, then led a discussion of the three quarterbacks\u2019 own. He couldn\u2019t resist noting his Cal team, with Jared Goff at quarterback, beat Texas at Royal-Memorial in Buechele\u2019s freshman season.<\/p>\n

Before his transfer to SMU, Buechele said the culture under Charlie Strong and Tom Herman at Texas \u201cwasn\u2019t very consistent,\u201d which is putting it nicely. He also told the class the difference between the two quarterbacks he\u2019s played second fiddle to in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes\u2019 level of preparation, Buechele said, is \u201ccrazy,\u201d and it shows in his performance. Allen is more laidback, he said, but inspires loyalty because \u201che\u2019s the most genuine person in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three of Sonny\u2019s quarterbacks spoke extensively on what it takes to be a leader and how they reacted to highs as well as lows.<\/p>\n

A half hour in, Sonny opened it up to the floor. Hands shot up. The questions were universally thoughtful, occasionally complex and executed in a manner which Sonny is probably unaccustomed to in his other job.<\/p>\n

Just the same, I couldn\u2019t help thinking: What if someone asks about the national title game in 2023?<\/a><\/p>\n

One student asked about the quarterbacks\u2019 \u201cmantras\u201d \u2013 a topic rarely broached in my circles \u2013 and got surprisingly good answers.<\/p>\n

After the mantra interlude, Sonny jumped in to note that, unlike most CEOs, leaders in sports become public figures. One moment they\u2019re worshiped on social media; the next, they\u2019re scorched. They must learn to ignore extremes and cultivate an inner circle, albeit one that includes constructive criticism.<\/p>\n

Basically, in an office or a locker room or a Dairy Queen, everyone needs someone to tell them when they\u2019re going the wrong direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 56 years old,\u201d Sonny said, \u201cand I got thrown out of a football game two years ago at SMU.<\/a> It was not a good day. And I had to check myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pause.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kind of a BS deal, because I didn\u2019t say anything. I did the first time, but not the second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sonny called his ejection from TCU\u2019s 66-42 loss to his former school in 2024<\/a> an \u201cincredibly humbling\u201d experience, but a good one, nonetheless. He\u2019d lost focus after getting sucked into social media that week. Lesson learned. Watching his Horned Frogs go on without him, he gave up Twitter on the spot.<\/p>\n

Seals had known a little of his coach\u2019s story before class, but he learned a lot he didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Did he sound the same as he does in the locker room?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he turns on the same talking mode whenever he gets in front of a crowd,\u201d Seals said after class.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TCU<\/p>\n

TCU football coach Sonny Dykes laughs with students as he teaches a leadership class at the Neeley School of Business on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

No state secrets were revealed Monday, though Sonny said he had no idea the \u201822 team was on its way to SoFi Stadium after barely beating a \u201cterrible\u201d Colorado team in their opener. He also noted he doesn\u2019t read the newspaper, or at least the TCU stuff in the sports section.<\/p>\n

Called it \u201cdestructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ouch.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, Seals said he was \u201cshocked\u201d to see students taking notes and showing enthusiasm for the subject. Class participation is, indeed, part of the grade. A presentation is forthcoming. One of the books on the syllabus was authored by Bill Walsh, the genius behind the 49ers and the West Coast offense.<\/p>\n

Sonny says he enjoys the class because it allows him to \u201cdouble-check\u201d his philosophies. None of his players are enrolled, but, if any were, he swears he\u2019d flunk them if they didn\u2019t do the work. As it is, everyone in this class has turned in homework on time and remained engaged.<\/p>\n

Brooke Sidler, a 21-year-old senior from Plano with a double major in marketing and management, took the class on a recommendation from another professor. A couple of her friends are in the class, too.<\/p>\n

Sidler likes college football. Attends most TCU games. In fact, she was at Ford Stadium when Sonny got tossed. Judging by that experience, she was expecting her new professor to be a little, well, wired up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great person to learn from, but different in energy,\u201d she said. \u201cBut maybe that\u2019s just a difference between a classroom versus a football field.\u201d<\/p>\n

No referees in here, anyway.<\/p>\n

I asked Sidler, who was a freshman when TCU lost to Georgia, 65-7, at SoFi Stadium, if she was afraid someone might ask Duggan about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the student population,\u201d she said, earnestly, \u201cwe don\u2019t speak about the national championship, so I don\u2019t think anyone was willing to go there.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one?<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly,\u201d she said, \u201cit was definitely a thought in my mind. But I know I would not want to be asked about probably one of my lowest moments, and I can imagine that would definitely be a tough one.\u201d<\/p>\n

No decent person would have asked Duggan that question, anyway. Only a sportswriter.<\/p>\n

Twitter\/X: @KSherringtonDMN<\/a><\/p>\n

Find more TCU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT WORTH \u2013 The last class Sonny Dykes taught was creative writing at Navarro College in the mid-\u201990s,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3688,2353,116,118,117,9425,154,783],"class_list":["post-150640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-colleges","tag-commentary","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-sonny-dykes","tag-sports","tag-tcu-horned-frogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}