TCU coach Sonny Dykes looking for more from Horned Frogs after back-to-back 9-win seasons

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — 2025 record: 9-4

TCU coach Sonny Dykes isn’t satisfied with back-to-back nine-win seasons.

“I think we’ve been pretty good,” Dykes said. ”Being great really is about reaching your potential as a team, and I don’t think we’ve done that in the last three years.”

The Horned Frogs, who made the national championship game in Dykes’ first season , are going into his fifth with a new quarterback and two huge departures from the middle of the defense after both starting linebackers in their 4-2-5 scheme were NFL draft picks.

While trying to get to their first Big 12 championship game since 2022, the Frogs need Harvard transfer QB Jaden Craig and the offense to be efficient and effective. Craig comes in with new offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis, whose UConn squad last year had only two turnovers while averaging 445 total yards and 35 points a game. TCU had multiple turnovers in all four of its losses last year.

Josh Hoover threw for 9,627 yards, 71 TDs and 33 interceptions the past three seasons at TCU before transferring to reigning national champion Indiana to succeed Heisman Trophy-winning QB and NFL No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza .

The Frogs open the season Aug. 29 against North Carolina in Ireland . They beat the Tar Heels in coach Bill Belichick’s debut last season.

Craig, a 24-game starter at Harvard who set school passing records last season, has some talented returning skill players around him.

Running back Jeremy Payne ran for 476 yards in the final five games last season, and scored the game-winning TD in the Alamo Bowl for TCU on a 35-yard catch-and-run in overtime against Southern Cal when breaking multiple tackles. Returning receiver Jordan Dwyer (54 caches, 730 yards and seven TDs) will have an even bigger role after the departure of 1,190-yard receiver Eric McAlister.

In front of Craig will be potentially one of the Big 12’s top offensive lines, led by left tackle and third-year starter Ben Taylor-Whitfield (6-foot-6, 320 pounds) and a couple of other returners. The Frogs also added big transfers, including 6-4, 330-pount guard Noah McKinney (from Oklahoma State) and center/guard Jaheim Buchanon, a 25-game starter at FIU the past two seasons.

While the Frogs return third-year starting safety Jamel Johnson (96 tackles and Big 12-high five interceptions) and most of their defensive line, there are plenty of changes on defense.

Max Carroll, a fourth-year junior with one career start, is now the leader in the linebacker room. Michael Short, who could start with Carroll, played only four games at Virginia Tech last season.

In the secondary, Vernon Glover Jr. is coming back from a knee injury, while the Frogs also brought in several defensive backs through the portal.

Craig (transfer from Harvard), CB Teon Parks (transfer from Colorado), WR Jeremy Scott (transfer from FIU), TE Kari Ashley (transfer from Navarro Junior College).

Safety Bud Clark (drafted by Seattle), LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr (drafted by Buffalo), QB Josh Hoover (transferred to Indiana), WR Eric McAlister, LB Namdi Obiazor (drafted by New England).

vs. No. 14 BYU (Oct. 3), vs. No. 21 Utah (Nov. 21), at No. 12 Texas Tech (Nov. 26).

AP college football: Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here , visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here