Former Texas Tech Football Coach Spike Dykes Passes Away
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LUBBOCK (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas Tech University confirmed Monday that former coach Spike Dykes died at the age of 79.
School spokesman Matt Dowdy said Dykes died Monday in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, near Austin. There was no immediate word on a cause of death.
Dykes' name was synonymous with the Texas Tech program, as he helped build it into what it is today, CBS Sports reported.
Dykes took over the Red Raiders at the end of the 1986 season, inheriting a program that had played in only one bowl game in the previous eight seasons.
Over his 13 full seasons in Lubbock, Dykes would lead Texas Tech to six bowl games, according to CBS Sports.
Dykes was named Southwest Conference Coach of the Year three times (1989, '93, '94) and Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1996.
Dykes spent the first 13 years of his coaching career at the high school level in Texas before becoming an assistant at Texas under Darrell Royal. He would then move on to New Mexico and Mississippi State before returning to the high school level for four years. He returned to college when Texas Tech hired him as its defensive coordinator in 1984.
Dykes is the father of former Cal coach Sonny Dykes, now an offensive analyst at TCU. His other son Rick Dykes was an offensive coordinator at Texas Tech on Dykes' staff, CBS Sports reported.
When he retired from Texas Tech, Dykes had won more games at the school than any other coach in its history.
Texas Tech promoted Dykes, who had joined the staff in 1984, and he retired as the school's winningest coach with a record of 82-67-1 over 13 seasons, plus an Independence Bowl loss after McWilliams' departure.
Mike Leach broke Dykes' mark with 84 wins from 2000-09.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
