Daniel "Sonny" Dykes (born November 9, 1969)[1] is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player.

In his first season at TCU, he led the Horned Frogs to a win in the semifinal and an appearance in the National Championship game.

He then moved to the junior college level as an assistant football coach, including stints with Kentucky, Texas Tech, and Arizona.

After coaching Cal football to its worst season (1–11) in program history in 2013, Dykes improved the team's record to 5–7 in 2014, and then to 8–5 and an Armed Forces Bowl victory in 2015.

Following his success at Southern Methodist, Dykes was hired as the head coach at Texas Christian University prior to the 2022 season.

In his first season at TCU, Dykes led the Horned Frogs to a 12–1 record and the team's first ever College Football Playoff appearance.

At Navarro, Dykes coached Leroy Fields, who led the nation in receiving and was selected in the seventh-round of the 2000 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.

Booker played in the Blue-Gray and East-West Shrine all-star games and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the third-round of the 1999 NFL draft.

[10][11] Dykes returned to Kentucky in 1999 to serve on Mumme's staff as wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator.

[13][14] At Kentucky, Dykes coached James Whalen who earned consensus All-America honors and set the all-time NCAA Division I record for receptions by a tight end.

Dykes also coached wide receiver Quentin McCord who was selected in the seventh-round of the 2001 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

Two of Dykes' players, Derek Smith and Brad Pyatt, signed as undrafted free agents with the Indianapolis Colts in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

In addition to Francis, Dykes also coached receivers Wes Welker and Derek Dorris who signed free agent contracts with the San Diego Chargers and New York Giants, respectively.

After five seasons as the Texas Tech wide receivers coach, Dykes was promoted to co-offensive coordinator alongside Dana Holgorsen in 2005.

Dykes helped develop Joel Filani into a two-time first team All-Big 12 honoree and a sixth-round selection in the 2007 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans.

In 2006, receiver Jarrett Hicks caught 13 touchdown passes to set the school's single-season record and signed as a free agent with the San Diego Chargers in 2007.

Rob Gronkowski set the school tight end records for single-game, single-season, and career receptions, yards, and touchdowns.

Despite a 1–4 start in 2011, Louisiana Tech rallied to win seven consecutive games to cap off the regular season with the program's first WAC football title since 2001 and an appearance in the Poinsettia Bowl, a 31–24 loss to TCU.

[39] Cal finished the year losing to arch-rival Stanford by 50 points, the largest margin ever in the 119-year history of the Big Game.

[40] In February of 2014, California dealt with a tragedy as 21-year-old defensive tackle Ted Agu died during an overly strenuous work out.

[47] The following week, Cal allowed an FBS-record 734 passing yards to Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday, but still won 60–59 when WSU missed a 19-yard field goal with 15 seconds to play.

[52] After a grueling back half of the schedule that included away games at Utah, Oregon, and Stanford, Cal finished the season 7–5.

[59] In a 54–24 win over the last place Oregon State Beavers, Cal tallied a school-record 760 yards and became bowl-eligible for the first time since 2011.

Franklin left to take up the same position at Middle Tennessee State, citing a desire to move closer to his family in Kentucky.

At the conclusion of the 2015 regular season, Dykes was reported to have interviewed for college football coaching positions at Missouri, Virginia, and South Carolina.

[86][87] The Mustangs were originally slated to play UTSA in the 2020 Frisco Bowl, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 complications within the team.

[78][83] On November 29, 2021, Dykes was announced as the new head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs, flying across the Metroplex from Dallas to Fort Worth in a helicopter that landed on the field at Amon G. Carter Stadium for an introductory ceremony ahead of the official press conference, which was held the next day.

[95] Dykes becomes the third coach to lead both the Texas Christian Horned Frogs and the Southern Methodist Mustangs; Ewing Y. Freeland and Matty Bell also led both programs in the century-old Iron Skillet match-up.

[97] TCU finished the 2022 regular season with a 12–0 record but lost the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game against the Kansas State Wildcats in overtime.

His father, Spike, was the second all-time winningest[clarification needed] football coach in Texas Tech history.