Sonny Dykes doesn’t want to see ghosts. He has some experience facing big-name coaches in their first college game. Two years ago, his TCU Horned Frogs went up against Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes in Sanders’ first game in Division I in 2023.
Colorado was considered a cupcake back then. Sanders was taking over a program that was 63-120 since 2006. However, no one talked about their strengths, nor did many people take Sanders’ arrival in Boulder seriously. There was considerable hype because Coach Prime was on the sidelines, but beneath the hype was little respect.
The result was a big surprise to everyone except the Buffaloes.
What Did Sonny Dykes Learn From His Game Against Coach Prime?
TCU entered the game ranked 10th in the nation and a 20.5-point favorite and finished it with a 45-42 loss to Colorado.
Sanders completely overhauled the roster, bringing 87 new players with him in 2023, including his son Shedeur Sanders at quarterback and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter playing receiver and defensive back.
Dykes faces a similar challenge in his 2025 season opener against Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels. The most significant difference is that Belichick is the most accomplished head football coach on the planet, and Dykes is taking no chances against him.
He’s even referencing lessons learned from that loss to Colorado in 2023 in an interview with The Athletic’s David Ubben.
“Our guys thought it was going to be easy,” Dykes said of the Colorado game. “And then when it wasn’t easy, you could see there was a palpable sense of panic on the sideline.”
TCU got Deion Sanders’ first game at Colorado, now gets the first Bill Belichick game for UNC.
Interesting to hear TCU folks admit they got caught up in the Deion hype last time. https://t.co/EYPhKOxjus pic.twitter.com/3Ad1o76RWX
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) August 25, 2025
Dykes is determined not to let his team fall into the same sense of complacency this time around. While very few people could get a handle on the roster Sanders was putting together in 2023, Ubben reports that Dykes and his staff have put in a lot of work reviewing what UNC defensive coordinator Steve Belichick did in the same capacity with the Washington Huskies in 2024.
He’s also spent considerable time studying the elder Belichick’s schemes and defensive looks from his days in New England.
Ubben reports that Dykes has also been calling around, talking to Belichick’s offensive former players, but the response he apparently gets is, “Bill does what Bill does.”
Regardless, Dykes is rooting around for any information he can get his hands on so that he doesn’t get caught with his pants down ever again.
