SMU head coach Sonny Dykes in theory will lead his team onto the field at Texas State in 36 days, although uncertainty still clouds the start of the college football season.
“We’ve got a really good plan that we’ve been very comfortable with when it comes to bringing our guys back,” Dykes said. “We’e trying to be smart about it, be patient.
“It’s been challenging, but at the same time, I’ve been really proud of our players and our coaches and just really our program in how we’ve adapted.”
Dykes spoke Thursday evening at a “Coaches Caravan” event held by the school via Facebook.
He was asked about the news that had come down just about an hour before. The SEC announced it would be going to a conference-only, 10-game season starting in late September.
“I wasn’t completely surprised. It seems like that’s kind of the trend that’s happening right now,” Dykes said. “I’m not quite sure why. I don’t really understand the way of thinking. Well, I do in some ways. I know there are some people talking about getting the season started a little bit later.”
Dykes said he hopes his team eventually plays 14 games — implying his team would play in an AAC title game, as well as a bowl game.
“If somebody will let us play,” Dykes said, “we’re gonna play as many as we can.”
Dykes also feels as though his program is in a good place with recruiting. Many of the Class of 2021 relationships were fostered at the start of his tenure with SMU, so the class is mostly in place heading into what is normally the start of fall camp.
“We’ve actually been pretty fortunate when it comes to 2021,” Dykes said. We were pretty far down the road with our recruiting, with that class. ... We’re close to really being down with the 2021 class.”
SMU has 12 players committed to the 2021 class, and 247Sports ranks the class as No. 3 in the AAC. The Mustangs picked up a commitment from kicker Brendan Hall on Thursday.
Dykes said he expects several more transfers to commit in the next several weeks, although it’s unclear if he meant for the 2020 season or the year after.
“We’ve had a number of folks reach out to us just recently that are potentially interested in leaving schools,” Dykes said, noting the pandemic has caused some players to consider transferring closer to home.
The Class of 2022, however, is a concern, Dykes admitted. The entire summer recruiting period has basically been wiped out. And opportunities to evaluate and build relationships have been put on a hiatus.
“We just haven’t had a chance to get to know a lot of those kids,” Dykes said. “And what made the 2021 class — or what’s going to make it so good for us — is just the familiarity with us, and being around us, and us really getting to know them. And the 2022 group is not going to have that same kind of opportunity.”
SMU is one of handful of FBS programs not facing schedule adjustments at the moment. The SEC, ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten have all gone to conference-only schedules. The Big 12, which includes SMU opponent TCU, has not announced its schedule plan.
“It’s like everything else,” Dykes said. “We feel like that anytime you have some kind of issue or hardship, you have to work through it and make it better. And we think that we’ll come out of this on the other side and figure out a way to gain some kind of advantage.”
