For TCU football, the College Football Playoff National Championship went about as horrible as it possibly could have. A matchup with Georgia produced the largest blowout in the history of any bowl game, let alone a national title game. However, it shows only how far Georgia is ahead of everyone else, not necessarily how far TCU is behind the other elite teams. This is the same TCU that beat Michigan in a fashion that proved they belonged amongst the upper tier of teams in the country.
So there's no reason to suspect TCU football is going anywhere. Not for quite some time at the very least. One National Championship appearance almost always leads to further successes in following seasons. Need some reasoning why? Here you go.
3. Big 12
Long story short here, the Big 12 is arguably the weakest Power 5 conference as it is, bar maybe only the ACC, and it's going to get weaker with the departures of Oklahoma and Texas. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF are good additions by the Big 12, but none quite have the top-end potential of Oklahoma and Texas, even if Cincinnati has a College Football Playoff appearance under its belt.
TCU is set up well to be the controlling force in the conference for at least the next few years, and that should provide easy access to the expanded College Football Playoff. That's all a program really needs to remain nationally relevant for years to come. Being a consistent presence on the biggest stages also helps in another aspect of building a contending program.
2. Recruiting
Do you know what the biggest possible boost to recruiting in the modern age is aside from a huge influx of NIL money? Appearing in a National Championship. The weight that the sentence “we can get you playing for a National Championship” carries in the minds of high school and transfer portal players across the country is incalculable.
Not even just in the minds of the players, but their families too, who often have an impact on where their loved one decides to go. That prestige is what boosts recruiting into the stratosphere, and TCU has already seen a bit of a boost in the portal. Expect TCU's 2024 class to be better than the 2023 class who committed and signed before the College Football Playoff semifinals even kicked off.
It's true that TCU has some major gaps to fill, most notably at quarterback with the departure of Max Duggan, but there's a level of trust in the staff that has to have been earned by now.
1. Staff
Sure, they haven't lined up a replacement for offensive coordinator Garrett Riley yet, but Sonny Dykes has long been one of the most underrated head coaches in college football. If he can hire a big talent at offensive coordinator once, there's no reason to suspect he can't do it again. Assuming his next offensive coordinator hire is a good one, or at the very least a solid one, can you really expect anything other than TCU football remaining nationally relevant?
If TCU's staff can get some more talent, especially on defense, they should be able to hold a firm grip on the Big 12, on the field and in recruiting. Winning solves all problems, and TCU did a whole lot of winning in 2022. There should be plenty of good times ahead for this program.
Follow Us
Subscribe