Sonny Dykes shares how TCU is game planning against Coach Prime and Colorado

Typically, game planning for a season opener against a first-year head coach means heading into the game with a certain amount of unknowns while relying on some game film from the previous year to give you a feel for personnel.

That is not the case for Sonny Dykes and his TCU staff as they prepare for a Colorado squad who not only have an entirely new coaching staff, but also more than 70 new players on the roster since Deion Sanders and company have taken over.

To open the 2022 season, TCU beat the Buffs 38-13 to kick off the Dykes era of Horned Frog football, but Dykes and his staff will literally face an almost entirely new team in 2024.

So how is TCU preparing for the unique situation in their season opener on September 2nd in Boulder?

Well for starters, Dykes shared with Andy Staples of On3 they're not going to waste any time on watching that film from last year's match up.

“This is going to be much different, because we’re not even going to bother watching Colorado’s film from last year,” Dykes said. “There’s no point in doing that. New schemes, new players, new everything.

Beyond that, it's about the coordinators, and Prime hired Kent State head coach Sean Lewis as his offensive coordinator, while also bringing his offensive coordinator at Jackson State in Bret Bartolone to coach the receivers.

While the sold out spring game in Boulder will provide some valuable intel, for TCU it's also about evaluating what key players did, and struggled to do, at their previous stops.

“You start with scheme,” Dykes shared with Staples. 

“You gotta watch the coordinators, where those guys were and what they did before and then you try to watch the guys that are going to be important players. Obviously, Sheduer was at Jackson State so we’ll spend a lot of time watching his tape and trying to evaluate what he can do well and what he can’t do well, and what he struggles with.”

Dykes would go on to share that the first two or three games of the season often come down to not making the mistakes that lead to you beating yourself.

"The main thing we have to do is make sure our team is ready to play. Make sure we can go out and minimize mistakes. Take care of the football. Be sounds on special teams. All of the things that get you beat early, you know, pre-snap penalties, explosive plays. All the things that matter to losing, especially matter in early ball games. Those things are all magnified in the first two or three ball games.”

The tilt between the Buffs and Horned Frogs at TCU is the chosen site of FOX's Big Noon Kickoff to open the season September 2nd.

Hear more in the clip.