Remembering the Legendary Spike Dykes

By: Joe Hornaday
Special to TexasTech.com

Editor's Note: Joe Hornaday had a front row seat to Spike Dykes' career as Texas Tech's sports information director from 1980-96. Below are his thoughts and memories on the late head coach.

She was a pretty young thing, that college girl working part-time in the Texas Tech Athletics Deptartment lobby. I never dreamed she could say something to me that would could change the course of so many things. That sentence of, "My dad's coming to Texas Tech to coach football" was the beginning of something magical.

Spike Dykes, Bebe's father, was on TV just a week or two before, coaching Midland Lee in the Class 4A state championship game. You could tell then that he was a good coach. What you couldn't tell was that he was so much more.

He pretty much tried to stay out of the limelight his three years at Texas Tech as defensive coordinator, even though his defense didn't. It was Spike's defense that created upset wins at Texas A&M (1984) and at No. 8 Arkansas (1986). Those showings had to play a part in Athletic Director T. Jones' decision to offer Spike the head job when David McWilliams abruptly left after the '86 regular season.

Spike was not inheriting a gold mine. The Red Raiders had only one winning season ('86) in the last eight. Tech was in its sixth head coach in 13 seasons. How could he change things around into a stable, competitive environment?

One way was to recruit players who might not have been the fastest or strongest, but abounded in effort. He knew he could supply the motivation. Then his personality would mold everybody into one group pulling together and that can be a very good thing.

Then he did something that few other coaches would do -- he took one for the team. To help support the Athletic Department's entire budget, he made one-time stops at Ohio State, Penn State, Florida State, and Georgia. But maybe these on-the surface nightmares really led to positive results later. In 13 seasons, Spike had only one losing conference record (3-5 in 1990) and Tech was bowl-eligible his last seven years. Coaches feared having to play Spike when he had an extra week to prepare -- he was 12-3-1 with extra practice time during the regular season. In his four Big 12 Conference campaigns, he had a 9-3 record against Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor. Only one coach in the country beat Texas more times in the 20th century than Spike -- Barry Switzer of Oklahoma had nine wins over UT in 16 years while Spike won six of 13.

What made him special, though, was that he was a people's person. He would talk to the university president and then visit longer with the janitor. He had a knack for making people want to be around him. Like the All-American Bowl press conference when Steve Spurrier talked about his Heisman Trophy. Spike followed with how much his Hellman's Mayonnaise Award meant to him. Or the media after the game at Ohio State believing Spike was complimentary when he compared the Buckeyes' new turf to that at Talpa-Centenial (High School). Or when he told TCU's Jim Wacker that Tech had forgotten to narrow the goal posts (a rule change from the year before) and please don't say anything about it.

The media loved him. He made them feel wanted. He would wind up getting them to talk more about their lives than he did about his own. He connected with the fans at annual Red Raider Club events at places like Tahoka, Levelland, Muleshoe, Hereford, Plainview and Lamesa. He'd tell them about the time his dad took him to Clovis, New Mexico for the first time. They dropped Mom off to do some shopping and they went to the new hotel. Standing in the lobby, they saw lighted numbers above what appeared to be a wall. Then the wall opened and a very average looking woman would enter. The wall would close, the lights above went off. Then the wall opened and a beautiful lady walked out. Dad turned to Spike and said, "Hurry, go get Mom. We're gonna stick her in there before we go home."

He delighted in the fans so much he decided a local event in Lubbock was needed. And not just for the high rollers. He priced it ($50) so the regular guy could feel a part of the Red and Black atmosphere. Mr. Average Joe got lunch, golf, two tickets to a Tech game and lots of free stuff. If that wasn't enough, Spike wanted to hit a drive for each team. Luckily, Meadowbrook's two courses had two different-course tee boxes near each other. You would have thought each of the 515 golfers in attendance that day was a long lost friend as the coach visited and swung that driver for more nine hours.

That's where Spike won national championships. He made everybody (players, fans, co-workers, etc.) truly feel appreciated. "Thanks for everything," he'd say. "You're the best!" In reality, you were tied for best with hundred of thousands of others. But you didn't care. You just felt too good inside.

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