TCU vs. Stanford Game Week | Sonny Dykes Media Availability | August 27

our coach it's Stanford week what have you seen onil from the Cardinal yeah um obviously you know we're excited to to get started I mean we've had uh we've had a long time uh to kind of deal with uh last season and and the disappointment that we had um in that season and and you know a lot of changes have occurred in our program and so we're excited to be able to go play this game and get a great test and find out where we are as a program you know I think you know challenges are are or what you know what kind of reveal uh football teams and so you know we're going to play 9:30 Central game you know it's going to be late um you know playing on the west coast two time zones away all that kind of stuff is in some ways not ideal uh to start the season but I think in this case it's probably exactly what we need um you know they'll they'll have a good football team I mean Troy Taylor's a really good football coach very smart guy um you know they're going to be you know a disciplined team they're going to play really hard uh they're going to be a talented team you know you just look at the the recruiting classes historically that Stanford's had I mean they're it's a talented group um you know and and everybody makes the biggest jump really when you're develop in your program from year one to year two uh in most cases and so I would anticipate this being a completely different team a team that's going to play us with a lot of confidence um and you know one of the things if you go and you pay attention to what their coaches and players are talking about the one thing that that you hear over and over and over again is physical you know they're gonna they're going to do what Stanford's done in the past and that's try to play a very physical brand of football um you know college football I think in some ways is changing you know you look at the the Georgia Tech Florida State game there's 14 possessions in that game you know there used to be 14 possessions sometimes in a half of football um and so things are starting to slow down a little bit my guess is you know it'll be a pretty slow game and um you know we're going to have to to play at a very high level it puts a lot of pressure on you when you have a limited number of possessions you can't waste opportunities you can't have silly penalties you can't get behind the chains you know we're going to have to play with a lot of discipline and lot of focus and execute at a high level talenter number3 you guys approach yeah yeah you know uh he is very talented uh you turn on the second half of the Colorado game last year is really pretty remarkable performance one of the best I've seen typically receivers don't take over games and he just took that game over and you know most of those catches were on Travis Hunter uh a corner that everybody says is going to be a first round draft pick and so very talented guys got great size really good speed um you know competes hard for the football when it's in the air I think that's probably you know you don't often see big fast and a guy that goes out and competes hard for the ball all the time and those are the really special guys and and he's certainly a special receiver so it'll be a big challenge for us coach the fear of the unknown I can't imagine going into a first game just simply not know you know what you're going to see out of a team how do as a coach how do you yeah yeah it's not ideal um you know I think the good thing is you know you have an idea uh from you know you get to see Stanford last year and you have an idea kind of Troy and what he's going to do to an extent um but you're going to see something different I mean they're going to have made huge strides from year one to year two in terms of their package and how big it is and what they're confident doing uh both offensively and defensively I would expect to see a lot of different looks defensively than what we saw last year and it's like anything else you kind of you kind put in the basics in year one and then you expand on that in year two and really build around your players and um so I would expect a bunch of new looks um you know I think we'll get the the kitchen sink thrown at us and you know I'm a big believer that you know game one in game two and in some ways game three is really just about yourself I think you're you're really playing against yourself and that's by limiting mistakes um you know you got to be really good in the kicking game you can't make uh situational errors you got to be solid you got to protect the football you can't have pre- snap penalties all those things are really really important to winning and losing but they're even more magnified in early in the season um and so you know those are all areas really that come down to discipline and preparation and and um you know I think we feel good about where we are right now and the good thing is we'll know more on Friday night time atmosphere you think that gives you yeah we've got a number of players you know that have played against these guys n played against them when he was in Notre Dame uh Caleb or played against them at Cal you know and so I think those guys have done a pretty good job talking to their teammates about the environment what that's going to look like and um you know and I've been there a couple of times had had a whole lot of success there um you know uh but you know it's going to be it'll be a little bit different environment but but our guys you know really great football teams don't worry about those kind of things you know their focus is on you know going out and playing regardless if there's 150,000 people there or 25,000 or whatever the case may be it's going to be really important for us to to just go out there and and you know and and focus in on doing our job and not worry about uh the circumstances or the environment coach what were your first impressions of Trey Sanders and and what has he meant to this program last few years yeah you know Trey Trey's obviously uh been through a lot you know had a a severe year accident when he was at Alabama you know came in as one of the top recruited running backs in the country if not the most recruited and you know just had a hard time staying healthy and and came in last year and made some progress and uh I think the big thing for Trey is he had an offseason where he was healthy I think it's the first time in his career that he had an extended opportunity to get in the weight room to get on the grass and really develop as a player and he's stayed healthy through fall camp and I think it's made a huge uh difference in his ability to go out there and execute our offense um you know I would expect him to to have a really good season I think he's healthy he's excited he's much more confident than he was this time last year uh he's very much more decisive in his running style and the way he attacks the line of scrimmage and so I I I would anticipate him having a fantastic year build offically the roster but overall how are you yeah you know I think we're we're very healthy I mean I think for this time of year coming out of fall camp and the physical camp that we had um you know we had a couple of injuries early uh you know we had three pretty significant injuries in five days and since then we've stayed remarkably healthy and um again that's that doesn't happen by accident I mean that's investment in nutrition and and doing things off the field the right way rest and recovery and our strength and conditioning staff and and then trying to modify our practice plans the best that we could to take care of our players um so we got to a good spot where we were able to have a really really physical ke C uh but also go into this game you know for the most part healthy tou on the kicking game you got Hunter and a kick are making their how do you best prepare them for what they're gonna see yeah you know the good thing about Kyle liberman is you know he kicked at South Lake and that's about as big a high school program as you can kick in you know anytime you're starting somebody that's going to be their first college experience you have concerns but he's you know he's played on the very biggest stage um you know the Texas high school you know championship games and then the you know AT&T Stadium and and all the things that guys need to do to kind of test themselves he's done at a very high level um but he's still a young guy you know still hasn't kicked in a college game I think our players have tremendous confidence in him just with what he's been able to do during fall Camp uh he's been very very consistent and you typically don't see that from young guys you see more of kind of ups and downs and you haven't really seen that from him you know a day in day out you know exactly what you're going to get from him and that's a real credit again to his preparation and and his approach to uh to being a kicker um Ethan CW is different I mean this is going to be his first time to play American football ever that I'm aware of and and so we're trying to teach him what a touchdown is and uh you know then the whole thing you know and and he's trying to learn how to to figure out how to keep score and and all that but um yeah but he's he's had a really good camp same thing you know for a young guy you expect up and downs and he's been just incredibly consistent you know very talented that group those guys are really really good athletes um they're big guys they're strong they have tremendous confidence they're well prepared and I would expect them to both go out and play at a high level you guys used de chart earlier this week coach and Jamal Johnson was a guy that kind of crept up can you talk little bit about his development yeah yeah Jamal Jamal is a young player that's very talented um you know that kind of goes back to what we're talking just consistency and I think Jamal has learned now to to focus on just daily Improvement you know I think uh sometimes as young guys you get a little distracted and pay attention to to to stuff that doesn't really matter and doesn't make you a better player and and I think Jamal's got focused in now on what he's got to do every day to make himself better and our team better um loved his the way he played this this fall Camp you know was always around the football um you know to me when you look at the guys that made plays in the secondary you know he was always making plays he was one of those guys that that um day in day out was was making competitive plays on the ball was in the right spot uh you know tackled well did all the things that a safety has got to do and you know still learning to communicate at the level that he's got to communicate at I mean that's the one thing in college football you know your linebackers used to be your communicators um in the game and now your safeties have to be like the quarterback you know the middle linebacker for years was was the quarterback of the defense and still is to to some extent but those safeties have got to make a lot of calls it's a different game now and and there's got to be constant communication going on I think that's an area that he's grown in and improved in the guys that you expect to play Friday night how many of them do you feel like you've got a good on you know what a lot a lot yeah um you know I think that's the one thing that that I like about this team is there is there's a ton of experience now some of it hasn't been at TCU but we were very mindful as we went in the portal and brought in players you know our intent was to bring in productive players guys that had played the game guys that were ready to play um and could be developed as well and and improved but but you know had skins on the wall and and those guys all have those things and and so you know you don't know how they're going to play at your level for your school but you do have a track record of those guys playing college football and being successful playing college football and and that's what I like about that group I mean this is a very very mature team and that is uh typically a good thing um you know I think last year I wouldn't have been able to say that I was concerned just about some maturity and and you know we were going to rely on some guys that maybe hadn't done it before and and again these guys to me um I don't have those same concerns maybe that I had last year about Josh grown since the end of last season yeah I think I think Josh is one of those guys that it's it's hard to be a a starting quarterback in the in the Big 12 um and in division one big-time college football and uh for a program that that uh expects to play for championships I mean that's that's a a lot for a 18 to 22 year old kid to carry the great thing about Josh is he's got really broad shoulders when it comes to that I mean he he understands his role he understands how important everything that he does and how he does that day in day out how it affects our team he understands the the leadership that um that he has because of his position um the responsibility that comes with it he likes it um it's part of of of who he is you know he's a incredibly consistent person and I think that his performance will mirror his consistency and so you know I wish he had gone through Spring ball wish he would not have missed those reps but you know he's one of those guys that has really picked things up even more quickly than we anticipated took him a little bit to get going and fall camp and and you can see the last week to 10 days has really hit his stride and um you know and and he I think he understands what he needs to do to give us a chance to win he doesn't need to go out there and and you know be uh Brett Favre he's got to go out there and and manage the game get the ball to the right guys uh take risks but he's got to take calculated risks and and understand that you know question and always ask himself the question you know is the juice worth the squeeze and I think he understands when it is and when it's not and again that's a big part of playing that position big donation to the school today I guess what was the thing why was it so important for you your well you know it's something that Kate and I have been talking about uh for a long time now uh we just we were just so excited to be here um so blessed to be here at TCU and you know we feel like that this university has given us so much um there's just really this just really special place I mean it's different it's a it's a unique uh University that um you know that really takes care of its own and I think that's what's so cool about the culture of TCU is it's it's a service culture um you know we we chose to honor two people that have been really important to us personally um you know obviously Jamal I hired Jamal when I got the SMU job uh he's a former TCU player um Jamal love TCU probably as much as anybody I've ever met uh you know when I was over there I didn't really like him talking about TCU all that much um but he always did because he loved this place and it meant so much to him um he's got an Incredible family uh Rachel and his family they're just people that um you you know deserve to be honored and as we started talking about this gift we felt like he was incredibly deserving just what he represented I think is is what TCU represents I mean he was about taking care of other people in service and giving back and uh we felt like that it's something we could do to honor him and then Shirley inis has just made a huge impact on on us and you know she went out of her way to be so kind to Kate and I when we came over here to TCU and and there's nobody that's given um t you more than than Hunter inis and his family and um you know we wanted to do something for women's Athletics I think with the changing world today uh it's going to be important for all of us to uh to recognize that um you know if we want to keep the current model uh to provide scholarships and opportunities for for women that we're going to have to go out and we're going to have to give money we're going to have to fundraise for these things and and we felt strongly uh about preserving uh women's program and enhancing women's programs and opportunities and so it was something that we wanted to do and again she was the the perfect person that we could honor uh with that gift go two more questions if you have um your first game with your new coordinator will he be upstairs yeah and you'll be upstairs yeah upstairs I think he's um he's really comfortable up there sees things communicates well um so you know I I think uh it's been interesting obviously we've done a lot of prep where we've had him in the Press Box and we've worked on all the different elements of sideline communication and substitutions and all the things and um you know it's just gone incredibly smooth he's got a the thing that has been impressive about Andy from the very beginning with me from the first conversation I had with him about about joining the staff here has just been his systematic approach you know he's got a he's got a methodology he's got a reason for doing things the reason never we've done it that way before it everything is well thought out well conceived um there's an emphasis on development and fundamentals um you know I think the success that he's had at programs that are developmental programs uh shows that he knows how to develop players and and put them in positions to be successful and and help guide them along their Journey as they become uh older and better players and you know he's just got a very systematic approach and so I was very very impressed with the communication that occurred um when we got into those situations during fall Camp um you know and and excited to to to see see our guys play I mean I think our guys are hungry uh defensively I think that they are um you know ready to go out and get a bad taste out of their mouth and uh and and going to compete at a really high level and I think they have a tremendous amount of confidence you know in the scheme and the coaches and most importantly in them in their teammates will he and kend be the communicators yes yes yeah he can be communicators yeah thanks coach