LOS ANGELES – TCU head coach Sonny Dykes hopes the sighting of Georgia head man Kirby Smart in the media hotel a day before the College Football Playoff finale was akin to a Ghost of Christmas Future. 

After all, Dykes wants his Horned Frogs to live in the rarified air the Bulldogs breathe on a yearly basis. Georgia, the reigning champions, started the season ranked third in the AP Poll. The Bulldogs boast the second most talented roster in the country and currently hold the second-best recruiting class in the 2023 cycle. 

By contrast, Dykes’ crew was 16-18 in the three seasons preceding his arrival at the end of last season. Only four Horned Frogs entered 2022 with bowl experience at TCU. Seniors at Georgia are about to play their six game past Christmas in their four-year career thanks to a pair of semifinal wins. TCU was picked seventh in the Big 12. Georgia is the two-time SEC Champions. 

“I do think it is more difficult to emerge from the shadows in football,” Dykes said. “Our group has had a little bit of a magical ride.” 

Most see experience as one of the major advantages Georgia possesses on Monday night. Dykes sees that experience as a road map. Twitter will tell you that bowl games are overrated in the modern era, but coaches disagree. A bowl game means 15 extra practices and a chance for young, inexperienced players to get extra reps and more attention. Winning six games equals an extra spring practice. 

Teams like Georgia take that for granted. Dykes doesn’t. Seniors at Georgia essentially received 45 more practice opportunities than seniors at TCU over their first three seasons on campus. That’s basically a 100 more hours to perfect their craft. And that’s where TCU wants to reach as a program. That’s the gap the Horned Frogs much close. Even more so than the one on the recruiting trail. 

“We’re a little behind in terms of development and were trying to catch up to some folks in front of us because we haven’t had that many practice opportunities,” Dykes admitted. “Our objective is to win the last game. That was our goal. Number two was to develop our team, including our young players.” 

TCU received five extra practices by reaching the Big 12 championship game. The Horned Frogs earned 15 more leading into the Fiesta Bowl win against Michigan. Five more took place heading into the national championship game on Monday night against Georgia. 

“A lot of the reason we were able to turn our roster over from last year to this year was the practices and preparation we had at this time last year,” Smart followed. “Coach Dykes is right about the cumulative effect. I’ve always said the states that have spring practices leave high school one year ahead of kids from the states that don’t because they’ve had four spring practices from ninth to 12th grade.” 

TCU’s first objective is to win a national championship on Monday. Maybe the harder, and arguably more important, task, however, is avoiding the label of a one-hit pony. Dykes himself called this a magical ride. Is it repeatable? Is the talent to replace Max Duggan and Quentin Johnston and Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson on the way? Georgia reached the top of the mountain and proved capable of remaining. The Horned Frogs want that. 

“There’s a standard now,” Dykes said. “There is a set of expectations that accompany this kind of success. And to me, that’s the exciting part. It’s one thing to get to the top. It’s another thing to be able to stay there.” 

The 2022 success should help Dykes & Co. with that mission. The exposure received from reaching the national title game was worth over $2 billion dollars. That money can be spent on retaining and adding staff members. There’s a reason Nick Saban surrounds himself with so many analysts and off-field help. That money can also be spent on the recruiting budget and facility upgrades. 

“There’s some doors open to us now, because of this success, that have been closed for a long time,” Dykes said. “And it is up to us to figure out how to reap the benefits – when it comes to recruiting and the opportunity to recruit a different kind of player, and when it comes to the opportunity to have access to staff members and additional staff and just all the things that can help you take the next step as a program.”