Counting down the top 10 Texas Tech coaches of the Big 12 era

No. 9: Spike Dykes

We now go from one of the shortest-tenured successful coaches in Texas Tech sports history to one of the longest.  But because the bulk of Spike Dykes’ career and his greatest successes came in the old Southwest Conference, rather than in the Big 12, he sits at just No. 9 on our list.

Dykes coached the Red Raiders for 13 seasons but only four of those were during the Big 12 era.  Still, in those four years, Dykes’ program had its share of success.

In all four years (1996-99) he managed a winning record and twice he guided his team to a bowl game.  Overall, his record in those seasons was 26-20 with a conference record of 19-13.

His best season in the Big 12 came in the league’s inaugural year, 1996.  That fall he led Tech to a 7-5 record and a 5-3 mark in league play to finish second in the South Division.  That earned him Big 12 Coach of the Year honors.

While Dykes’ Big 12 success didn’t quite match what he had been able to do in the Southwest Conference, it was better than what we’ve seen in the last decade of the program’s history.  In all four years, Tech won at least four league games and three of them Tech won five.  To put that in perspective, the Red Raiders haven’t won five Big 12 games in a season since 2009.

If we were to make a Mount Rushmore of Texas Tech coaches, Spike Dykes would be on it.  He was the man who helped bring Tech into the modern era of college football by giving the program legitimate SWC success and sustaining it with some nice seasons to open the Big 12.  But because only four of his years were in the Big 12 and because those seasons were merely above average and not stellar, he sits at No. 9 on this list.