TCU HC Jokes About 'Bad Scheduling' Over Games vs. Deion, Colorado and Belichick, UNC

TCU head coach Sonny Dykes laughed when asked by ESPN's Andrea Adelson what the Horned Frogs did to draw Deion Sanders' and Bill Belichick's FBS coaching debuts in consecutive season openers.

"Not sure how we pulled that off. It's called bad scheduling," Dykes told Adelson. "Hopefully we'll fare better than we did last time. We didn't play well last time, but we've got a second chance."

TCU, which finished the 2022 campaign as national runners-up, drew Colorado for their season-opening matchup in 2023.

Sanders, in his first game since leaving Jackson State, led Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and the Buffaloes to a 45-42 upset win.

The Horned Frogs are now set for another Week 1 matchup against a high-profile head coach who has yet to coach an FBS game in Belichick, who was hired by UNC in January after 24 seasons with the New England Patriots.

Like Sanders, Belichick has been busy in the transfer portal ahead of his first FBS season. Dykes told Adelson his staff has been watching tape of Bill Belichick's Patriots, as well as UNC defensive coordinator Steve Belichick's work with the University of Washington and individual tape of the Tar Heels' transfer portal additions.

"We're in the process of trying to look at all those players, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and figure out how to attack the schemes and go play a big game. That's the good thing," Dykes told Adelson. "You can project the two-deep and say, 'These guys are going to be the starters. You can find the tape of where they were last year and get a quick view of what they're like. We've already begun doing that."

One of those offseason additions is former South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez, who could be starting in Belichick's first college football season.

The Horned Frogs are meanwhile bringing back Josh Hoover after the quarterback set a TCU single-season passing record with 3,949 yards in 2023. He is the only signal caller in the nation to return to his team after averaging at least 300 passing yards per game last season, according to TCU.

The season opener, which will mark the first time TCU and UNC have matched up since 1997, is set to kick off in North Carolina on Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. ET.