Loyalty in college football’s NIL era is like spotting a unicorn. But at TCU? Turns out, the rare creature exists—and his name is Josh Hoover. When Tennessee came calling with a jaw-dropping $2 million NIL offer, Hoover didn’t flinch. Instead, he doubled down on Fort Worth. That’s not just a feel-good story—it’s the very fabric of what Sonny Dykes has quietly stitched into TCU’s locker room: culture over cash. And while folks still ask what exactly Dykes does if he’s not calling plays or leading drills, maybe the answer is simple—he leads people.

Back in 2023, things looked bleak in Funkytown. TCU limped to a 5-7 finish after their Cinderella run to the natty the year before. People were ready to chalk up the 2022 season as a one-hit wonder. The passing game looked alright, but the defense was leaking, and the run game? Diabolical. It felt like Sonny Dykes had lost his spark—or worse, control. And let’s be honest, people were starting to wonder: if Kendal Briles runs the offense and Andy Avalos commands the defense, then what exactly does Coach Dykes bring to the table?

Cue Stephen Simcox, host of the Locked On Horned Frogs podcast, started with a question, “What is Sonny good at? Because I know a lot of you have questions at times because he’s a very hands-off coach, as far as it’s hard to kind of put your finger on exactly what he’s interacting with on a day-to-day basis,” Simcox said. And he laid it out plain: “He’s a CEO coach.”

That might sound vague to the average fan, but look closer, and the receipts are there. In a sport where players jump ship for a better bag every week, Dykes got his QB1 to turn down a fortune. That speaks louder than any scheme.

Stephen didn’t stop there. “He is in charge of the culture, in charge of the day-to-day. And I think at times over the last few years the details have been lacking. I feel like you see that in their struggles on special teams, the run game issues over the past two years—there have just been parts of this team not playing complementary football for a year and a half before turning things around the second half of last season. All that falls back on the coach in my mind.”

Sure, the run game did stink—TCU averaged just 3.2 yards a carry last year, bottom 20 in the nation. But then came the turn. With Andy Avalos running the defense, the Frogs suddenly got nasty down the stretch. Gave up just 13 points or fewer in four of the last 7 games. Held teams to 24.6 PPG overall. Respectable.

Meanwhile, Josh Hoover was lighting it up. Under Briles, he straight-up rewrote the TCU record book with 3,949 passing yards, becoming the program’s all-time single-season leader. But still, the big dogs came sniffing. Tennessee, after losing Nico Iamaleava to the portal, was desperate. They backed the Brinks truck up to Hoover’s door. It could’ve been a no-brainer. But Hoover stuck with TCU, with Dykes, with culture.

And that’s the thing—Sonny Dykes may not be on the whiteboard diagramming plays, but he’s got his guys believing in the program. In an era ruled by portal panic and NIL chaos, that might be the most valuable skill a head coach can have.

Josh Hoover’s $2 million loyalty leads to a Heisman run?

When Hoover reportedly turned down over $2 million from the Vols, he wasn’t chasing the money. He chose to stay in the Big 12 as one of its top passers because, as he said, “This is the place I want to be.” By showing that loyalty and love to TCU, he might have opened the door to something even bigger: a Heisman Trophy run.

In mid-June, the Cover 3 Podcast stirred things up with a spicy sleeper take. Chip Patterson said it straight: “I think Josh Hoover could put up crazy stats… one of those types of arguments.” He name-dropped RG3 and Johnny Manziel—two guys who didn’t need a blue-blood program to take home the Heisman hardware. What they had was volume. Hoover’s already built for that.

CBS Sports has him sitting at +25000 in the early Heisman odds. That’s long-shot territory, sure, but it’s also where chaos lives. Max Duggan made a similar climb in 2022, finishing second in the Heisman voting despite TCU being written off early. Duggan had the narrative and numbers. Hoover? He might have both and better weapons.

Hoover threw for nearly 4,000 yards last season in a system that was completely one-dimensional. The run game? Nonexistent. TCU averaged just around 3 yards per carry, ranked near the bottom nationally, and often forced Hoover to shoulder the entire offense. And yeah, he threw 20 picks over two seasons. But now, he’s got returning WRs, transfer upgrades like Joseph Manjack, and a more balanced attack with RB Nate Palmer stepping up.

“This might be the best roster I’ve ever coached,” Sonny Dykes said. He didn’t sound like a man hedging bets. With Cade Bennett back shoring up the offensive line and defensive continuity under Avalos, Hoover might finally get a clean shot at showing just how surgical he can be. The only thing holding him back is turnovers. Clean those up, and it’s game on. If Hoover keeps slinging 300-yard games and TCU starts creeping into Big 12 contention again, the Heisman hype train could go from long shot to late-season locomotive.