Spike Dykes
William Taylor "Spike" Dykes (March 14, 1938 – April 10, 2017) was an American football coach. A high school and college football coach throughout his career, he last served as head coach at Texas Tech University from 1986 to 1999.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 14, 1938 Lubbock, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | April 10, 2017 (aged 79) Horseshoe Bay, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1956–1958 | Stephen F. Austin |
| Position(s) | Center |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1959 | Eastland HS (TX) (assistant) |
| 1960–1961 | Ballinger HS (TX) (assistant) |
| 1962–1963 | SA Central HS (TX) (DC) |
| 1964–1965 | Coahoma HS (TX) |
| 1966 | Belton HS (TX) |
| 1967–1969 | Big Spring HS (TX) |
| 1970–1971 | Alice HS (TX) |
| 1972–1976 | Texas (assistant) |
| 1977–1978 | New Mexico (assistant) |
| 1979 | Mississippi State (assistant) |
| 1980–1983 | Midland Lee HS (TX) |
| 1984–1986 | Texas Tech (DC) |
| 1986–1999 | Texas Tech |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 82–67–1 (college) |
| Bowls | 2–5 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| SWC (1994) | |
| Awards | |
| 3× SWC Coach of the Year (1989, 1993, 1994) Big 12 Coach of the Year (1996) | |
Coaching career
Early years
Born in Lubbock, Texas and raised in Ballinger, Dykes graduated from Ballinger High School in 1955 and Stephen F. Austin State University in 1959.[1] At Stephen F. Austin, Dykes played center on the Lumberjacks football team. Upon graduation, he served in several high school head and assistant coaching positions, including a stint as defensive coordinator under Emory Bellard at San Angelo Central High School in San Angelo, Texas. In 1972, Dykes became an assistant coach at the University of Texas. He filled assistant roles at two other universities before returning to the high school level to coach at Midland Lee from 1980 to 1983.
Texas Tech
Dykes moved to Texas Tech in 1984, serving as defensive coordinator under Jerry Moore and David McWilliams. When McWilliams left for Texas after the 1986 season, Dykes was named his successor. He was the first coach in school history to lead the team to seven straight bowl-eligible seasons and to coach the team in seven bowl games.
Dykes was the school's first coach to defeat the Texas Longhorns in six different seasons. He earned three Southwest Conference and one Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year honors.[2] His record at Tech stands at 82–67–1. On November 20, 1999, Dykes retired after 13 seasons as head coach.[3] His 82 wins were the most in school history until his successor, Mike Leach, passed him in 2009.
Late life and death
Dykes moved to Horseshoe Bay, Texas after retiring from coaching and also bought a house on Matagorda Bay.[4]
On March 11, 2008, Dykes was inducted in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.[5]
Dykes died on April 10, 2017, in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, at age 79.[6]
Family
One of Dykes' two sons, Sonny, is also a college football coach, currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU). The younger Dykes previously served as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University from 2010 to 2012, the University of California, Berkeley from 2013 to 2016, and Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2017 to 2021. Dykes' other son, Rick, spent many years as an assistant football coach at Texas Tech, including a stint as offensive coordinator. Rick was later a partner of the now disgraced Reagor Dykes Auto Group. Dykes also had a daughter, Bebe.
Head coaching record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech Red Raiders (Southwest Conference) (1986–1995) | |||||||||
| 1986 | Texas Tech | 0–1* | 0–0 | L Independence | |||||
| 1987 | Texas Tech | 6–4–1 | 3–3–1 | 4th | |||||
| 1988 | Texas Tech | 5–6 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1989 | Texas Tech | 9–3 | 5–3 | 4th | W All-American | 16 | 19 | ||
| 1990 | Texas Tech | 4–7 | 3–5 | T–5th | |||||
| 1991 | Texas Tech | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1992 | Texas Tech | 5–6 | 4–3 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1993 | Texas Tech | 6–6 | 5–2 | 2nd | L John Hancock† | ||||
| 1994 | Texas Tech | 6–6 | 4–3 | T–2nd | L Cotton† | ||||
| 1995 | Texas Tech | 9–3 | 5–2 | T–2nd | W Copper | 20 | 23 | ||
| Texas Tech: | 54–47–1 | 38–27–1 | *Dykes coached bowl game after McWilliams left for Texas. | ||||||
| Texas Tech Red Raiders (Big 12 Conference) (1996–1999) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Texas Tech | 7–5 | 5–3 | 2nd (South) | L Alamo | ||||
| 1997 | Texas Tech | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd (South) | |||||
| 1998 | Texas Tech | 7–5 | 4–4 | 3rd (South) | L Independence | ||||
| 1999 | Texas Tech | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd (South) | |||||
| Texas Tech: | 28–20 | 19–13 | |||||||
| Total: | 82–67–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Bibliography
- Bobo, Mike; Dykes, Spike (1998), Principles of Coaching Football, Allyn and Bacon, ISBN 0205262538
- Dykes, Spike; Bolling, Dave (2004), Spike Dykes's Tales from the Texas Tech Sideline, Sports Publishing LLC, ISBN 158261265X
References
- Lee, Mike (October 18, 2009). "Spike Dykes: Coaching Icon". LoneStarPreps. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- "Texas Tech 2010–11 Athletics Record Book". Texas Tech University. p. 10. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
- "Dykes Announces Retirement". Texas Tech. November 20, 1999. Archived from the original on February 4, 2000. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- Leschper, Lee (September 19, 2002). "Spike likes retirement". Amarillo Globe-News. Archived from the original on January 3, 2004. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- Williams, Don (March 12, 2008). "Texas Sports Hall of Fame adds ex-Tech coach Dykes". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- Williams, Don (April 10, 2017). "Former Tech coach Spike Dykes dies at 79". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Lubbock, Texas. Retrieved April 10, 2017.