Sonny Dykes points out major issue with NCAA recruiting calendar

Sonny Dykes and the TCU Horned Frogs‘ magical season has led them to the National Championship game, as they face the Georgia Bulldogs for all the marbles on Monday. Dykes and the Horned Frogs coaching staff’s center of attention is preparing their players for the biggest game of the season, but they also have to focus on recruiting their potential players of the future, which Dykes spoke about ahead of the National Championship.

“I want to add one thing to that. Look, we were preparing this week for a national championship game and we had six transfers on campus on an official visit. And you’re just kind of like, really? I mean, are we really doing this?” Dykes asked.

Recruiting during post-season play always presents a challenge, but the new prominence of the transfer portal has added a new wrinkle that presents an even greater challenge for coaches across the nation. And while the new transfer portal recruiting window now closing on January 18 does add necessary regulations and guard rails, it leaves coaches like Dykes with only a little over one week to recruit following the conclusion of their season. Which largely contrasts non bowl eligible programs, whose offseason’s began in late November following the last week of the regular season.

Dykes is obviously thankful for the opportunity to coach his team as they compete on college football’s biggest stage, but also pulled back the curtain challenges that come with it.

“And so that’s just the way it is now. And those days were going to be 18-hour days before and the 18-hour days turned into 20-hour days. And that’s the nature of our business,” Dykes said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I have the opportunity to do something else if I want to.”

Other coaches across the nation have also expressed the hardships that now come with December and January, as many are now tasked with balancing preparing their team for bowl games, recruiting through high school and the transfer portal, and managing coaching turnover.

“But we do have to, at some point, kind of sit down and say, okay, look, here’s the calendar; what can we do to serve the players, first and foremost. And second of all, try to retain some kind of ability to be a good father and a good husband,” Dykes said.

There’s surely a lot on the plate of college coaches, and it’s clear that Dykes wants to see some changes in the future to help relieve some of the new responsibilities that now come with the job.