The TCU Horned Frogs college football team represents Texas Christian University (TCU) in the Big 12 Conference (Big 12). The Horned Frogs compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 31 head coaches, and one interim head coach, since it began play during the 1896 season. Since November 2021, Sonny Dykes has served as head coach at TCU.[1]
Eight coaches have led TCU in postseason bowl games: William L. Driver, Dutch Meyer, Abe Martin, Jim Wacker, Pat Sullivan, Dennis Franchione, Gary Patterson, and Dykes. Seven of those coaches also won conference championships: Driver captured one as a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Francis Schmidt captured two, Meyer three, Martin three, and Sullivan one as a member of the Southwest Conference; Franchione captured two as a member of the Western Athletic Conference; Patterson captured one as a member of Conference USA, four as a member of the Mountain West Conference, and one as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
Patterson is the leader in seasons coached with 21 years as head coach and games won with 181. Willis T. Stewart has the highest winning percentage at 0.889. Jim Shofner has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.061. Of the 31 different head coaches who have led the Horned Frogs, Matty Bell, Schmidt, Meyer, and Sullivan have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Key
[edit]| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] | ||||
Coaches
[edit]| No. | Name [A 6] |
Season(s) [A 7] |
GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe J. Field | 1897 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.750 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | James Morrison | 1898 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.300 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | H. E. Hildebrand | 1902 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0.083 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | C. E. Cronk | 1904 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0.250 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Emory J. Hyde | 1905–1907 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 0.478 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Jesse R. Langley | 1908–1909 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0.676 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 7 | Kemp Lewis | 1910 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0.278 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 8 | Henry W. Lever | 1911 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 9 | Willis T. Stewart | 1912 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0.889 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 10 | Fred Cahoon | 1913 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0.688 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | Stanley A. Boles | 1914 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0.500 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 12 | Ewing Y. Freeland | 1915 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 13 | Milton Daniel | 1916–1917 | 19 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0.763 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 14 | Ernest M. Tipton | 1918 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0.571 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 15 | Ted D. Hackney | 1919 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0.125 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.200 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 16 | William L. Driver | 1920–1921 | 19 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0.763 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.833 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 17 | John McKnight | 1922 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0.350 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0.200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 18 | Matty Bell† | 1923–1928 | 55 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 0.645 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 0.481 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 19 | Francis Schmidt† | 1929–1933 | 57 | 46 | 6 | 5 | 0.851 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0.793 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — |
| 20 | Dutch Meyer† | 1934–1952 | 201 | 109 | 79 | 13 | 0.575 | 57 | 46 | 9 | 0.549 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 1935 1938 |
— |
| 21 | Abe Martin | 1953–1966 | 145 | 74 | 64 | 7 | 0.534 | 46 | 42 | 3 | 0.522 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 22 | Fred Taylor | 1967–1970 | 41 | 15 | 25 | 1 | 0.378 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 0.464 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 23 | Jim Pittman | 1971 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.500 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 24 | Billy Tohill | 1971–1973 | 26 | 11 | 15 | 0 | 0.423 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0.462 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 25 | Jim Shofner | 1974–1976 | 33 | 2 | 31 | 0 | 0.061 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0.045 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 26 | F. A. Dry | 1977–1982 | 66 | 12 | 51 | 3 | 0.205 | 6 | 40 | 2 | 0.146 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 27 | Jim Wacker | 1983–1991 | 100 | 40 | 58 | 2 | 0.410 | 21 | 48 | 1 | 0.307 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 28 | Pat Sullivan† | 1992–1997 | 67 | 24 | 42 | 1 | 0.366 | 14 | 30 | 0 | 0.318 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 29 | Dennis Franchione | 1998–2000 | 35 | 25 | 10 | — | 0.714 | 16 | 7 | — | 0.696 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 30 | Gary Patterson | 2000–2021 | 260 | 181 | 79 | — | 0.696 | 113 | 59 | — | 0.657 | 11 | 6 | — | 6 | 0 | AFCA COY (2009, 2014) AP COY (2009, 2014) Bobby Dodd COY (2009) Eddie Robinson COY (2009, 2014) George Munger Award (2009) Liberty Mutual COY (2009) Sporting News COY (2009, 2014) Walter Camp COY (2009, 2014) Home Depot COY (2014) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2014) |
| Int. | Jerry Kill | 2021 | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | 0.500 | 2 | 2 | — | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 31 | Sonny Dykes | 2022–present | 40 | 27 | 13 | — | 0.675 | 18 | 9 | — | 0.667 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | AFCA COY (2022) AP COY (2022) Eddie Robinson COY (2022) Walter Camp COY (2022) Sporting News COY (2022) Home Depot COY (2022) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2022) |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[2]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[3]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[4]
- ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
- ^ TCU did not have a head coach from their 1896, 1899, 1901, and 1903 seasons.
- ^ TCU did not field a team for the 1900 season.
References
[edit]- ^ Jeyarajah, Shehan (November 30, 2021). "TCU hires Sonny Dykes: What's next as Horned Frogs tab SMU coach to replace Gary Patterson". CBSsports.com. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.