Pete Thamel: Sonny Dykes, TCU agree to contract extension following College Football Playoff bid

After as successful a season for a first-year head coach in years, TCU is locking in head coach Sonny Dykes with a contract extension, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. In his first season in Fort Worth, Dykes has led the Horned Frogs to a 12-1 mark and a College Football Playoff berth.

The new contract runs through 2028, according to Thamel, and makes Dykes one of the highest paid coaches in the Big 12 — though the exact figure isn’t clear, as TCU is a private institution. The highest reported salary in the league is the $7.5 million that Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy is paid annually, likely a benchmark for the Dykes extension.

And the season isn’t over yet, with potentially a pair of College Football Playoff games awaiting Dykes and TCU in the postseason.

College Football Playoff committee chair Boo Corrigan explained how TCU earned the No. 3 spot

Despite losing to Kansas State Saturday in the Big-12 Championship game, TCU remained No. 3 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, leaving Ohio State at No. 4.

CFP Committee Chair Boo Corrigan revealed the reasoning behind keeping a one-loss TCU team ahead of a one-loss Buckeyes squad.

“You’re looking at body of work. We talked earlier in the year about being maybe a little bit more balanced in their defense,” Corrigan said on the selection show Sunday. “And when you look at the last five games, I believe they’re giving up about 20 points a game on defense, the way that game flowed yesterday and their ability to come back and their ability to play the way they do.

“Max Duggan – what a warrior. To go through the game the way he did to put them in a position to take the game not only go to overtime, but a chance to win that game. Again, the committee looked at the full body of work. A lot of respect for Kansas State in that room as well.”

Corrigan also noted that the committee is evaluating margin of loss as well. Ohio State’s lone loss to Michigan – two CFP teams – saw the Buckeyes get trampled by the Wolverines by three scores. TCU’s only loss was in overtime to a top-10 team.

“While the margin was greater, you’re certainly trying to look at the game in its entirety and then again, push that forward into a whole body of work by the season,” Corrigan said.