Baylor’s firing of head coach Dave Aranda sent shockwaves across the conference, but it was only the start of a wild Big 12 firing spree. Less than 24 hours after a 24-20 loss to West Virginia, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes made his own big move. He officially parted ways with co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach A.J. Ricker.

The Athletic’s Chris Vannini first put the word out on his X handle.

If you just looked at the total yardage from Saturday’s game at Amon G. Carter Stadium, you’d think TCU blew West Virginia right out of the building.

The Horned Frogs completely dominated the macro stat sheet, racking up an impressive 484 total yards compared to the Mountaineers’ tiny 265-yard output. They even threw for a massive 372 yards on an efficient 5.9 yards per play. But statistics can lie, and TCU failed where it actually mattered: A.J. Ricker’s department – winning the physical war in the trenches, avoiding devastating negative plays, and taking care of the football.

Ricker joined the Horned Frogs staff in December 2021 as part of Dykes’ arrival and coached the program for almost half a decade. Dykes and Ricker share a long history, having coached together for six straight seasons dating back to their time at SMU. However, strong personal bonds cannot save a position coach when your quarterback is under constant pressure every week.

The final straw came on TCU’s last offensive possession against the Mountaineers. Trailing 24-20 in the fourth quarter, quarterback Jaden Craig was blindsided by edge rusher David Afogbo, coughing up a game-ending fumble that West Virginia happily recovered to ice the upset.

That game-ending disaster was a perfect microcosm of what has been going completely wrong all year long for the Frogs. TCU’s offensive line surrendered three costly sacks on Saturday, bringing their season total to a whopping 20 sacks allowed in just seven games.

That ugly metric puts them dead last in the Big 12 for pass protection. On top of that, the running game has been horrendous! The Frogs sputtered to a miserable 3.3 yards per carry against a West Virginia defense that entered the game statistically ranked near the bottom of the country.

Mid-season coordinator firings are rare, but Dykes felt forced to act immediately rather than wait for the offseason. The late-game fumble against West Virginia was the tipping point. With TCU ranking at the bottom of the conference in pass protection, Dykes decided a mid-year change was necessary to salvage the rest of the season.

Because the line couldn’t block, the entire scoreboard has suffered dramatically over the last two months. Take away early-season blowout wins against lower-tier teams like Grambling State (63-7) and Arkansas State (31-7), and TCU’s offense has been painful to watch.

They’ve failed to score more than 20 points in five of their seven games this season, including scoring zero points in the final quarter on Saturday. Right now, they rank a dismal 101st in the nation in scoring offense, which is light-years away from what we used to see!

With Ricker out, TCU is forcing a major, high-pressure shuffle on its coaching staff right in the middle of the season.

Next man up has already been appointed!

Offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis will step up to directly manage the daily offensive line duties for the rest of the year, alongside assistant Ryan Swingle. Luckily for the Frogs, Sammis has deep roots as a former O-line coach at UConn.

However, he has his work cut out for him trying to rebuild a broken unit on the fly, especially following the recent departures of former coordinator Kendal Briles to South Carolina and running backs coach Jimmy Smith to Georgia Tech.

Now sitting at a disappointing 3-4 overall and a painful 1-3 in Big 12 play, TCU’s lofty expectations for the season have officially collapsed. The main mission for the rest of the year has drastically shifted to simply scraping together enough wins to qualify for a postseason bowl game.

To get to that six-win threshold, a struggling TCU team must win at least three of its final five regular-season matchups. That uphill climb starts next week at home against a dangerous Kansas Jayhawks team that will surely smell blood in the water.