FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU is nearing the two-week mark for its search to find Gary Patterson’s successor.
Athletic director Jeremiah Donati remains optimistic that the Horned Frogs will have their next football coach in place by his desired early December timeline with the early signing period starting Dec. 15.
TCU appears to have zeroed in on five candidates, including Louisiana’s Billy Napier, SMU’s Sonny Dykes, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Jackson State’s Deion Sanders and Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.
TCU had interest in a number of other candidates such as Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and UTSA coach Jeff Traylor, both of whom are no longer in the mix. Denver Broncos running backs coach and former TCU player Curtis Modkins interviewed last week, too, but he doesn’t appear to check as many boxes as the top candidates.
Donati’s wish list included a sitting head coach with a background on offense who understands the new age of college athletics. TCU wants a coach with a vision of how to navigate the new era of players profiting off their name, image and likeness and the ever-growing NCAA transfer portal.
With that being said, we stack up the strongest five candidates to date. As baseball agent Scott Boras likes to say, there’s always potential for a “mystery team” to emerge — or, in this case, a “mystery candidate” — but the feeling is TCU’s next coach will come from this group.
Betting favorites
— Billy Napier, Louisiana: Napier checks all the boxes that Donati is searching for — a sitting head coach with a strong background of coaching offense and one familiar with NIL and the transfer portal. Napier, 42, is a rising star in the industry and has been courted by other schools in recent years.
TCU has to be intrigued by Napier’s 36-12 overall record in four seasons at Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns are ranked No. 24 in the country this week, sitting at 8-1.
TCU, conversely, should be an attractive landing spot for Napier. Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country, and some feel that TCU is in position to rise to the top of the Big 12 after Texas and Oklahoma depart.
— Sonny Dykes, SMU: Dykes has been viewed as a front-runner since this position opened on Halloween night. Dykes spent time with TCU as an offensive analyst under Patterson in 2017, so he has familiarity with TCU brass.
Dykes, 52, has shown the ability to navigate the transfer portal and NIL era at SMU. However, the Mustangs have lost two straight games and a November slide could hurt Dykes’ chances.
Longer shots
— Matt Campbell, Iowa State: As folks in Ames are quick to remind, Campbell has been a candidate at a number of other jobs in recent years, including at the NFL level.
Campbell has turned down those overtures to stay at Iowa State, so why would he bolt for another Big 12 job? Well, for the reasons mentioned above for Napier. TCU is in a premium recruiting location; has shown a willingness to spend financial resources on salaries for the head coach and assistants; and has top-notch facilities.
If TCU is able to lure Campbell to Fort Worth, it would be viewed as a home-run hire for Donati.
Campbell, 41, has been named the Big 12’s coach of the year three times in the past four seasons (2017, 2018, 2020). Iowa State hasn’t played up to its preseason top-10 expectations this season, but Campbell’s stock remains high in the coaching market.
— Deion Sanders, Jackson State: Sanders is gaining momentum with players such as Zach Evans expressing support for TCU to bring in the man known as “Prime Time.” And Sanders’ work in a short time period at Jackson State justifies interest from a school such as TCU.
However, there are questions about whether Sanders would be the right “fit” at TCU. It would be a high-risk, high-reward hire for Donati and the school. They would have to feel good about the staff that Sanders, 54, would surround himself with since he’d be making a significant leap from the FCS to the Big 12.
But Sanders’ potential impact on the recruiting trail and generating national interest on the program keeps him in the mix. Will Donati be willing to roll the dice on such a hire? Maybe, but if it flops, it might cost him his job. But TCU hasn’t closed any doors on this idea yet.
Dark horse
— Tony Elliott, Clemson offensive coordinator: Elliott, 41, may be the candidate with the least buzz so far, but he is under serious consideration. Clemson is in the midst of a down year, but Elliott has been viewed as a future head coach for several years. He was offensive coordinator when Clemson won the national championship in 2016 and 2018.
Those are enough credentials to garner consideration, despite the fact Elliott has not yet been a head coach.
