TCU has made its first coaching move of the season, cutting ties with offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator A.J. Ricker after Saturday’s 24-20 loss to West Virginia.
The Homecoming defeat left the Horned Frogs at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play, and it also sharpened the pressure on a team already fighting uphill for bowl eligibility. With five regular-season games left, TCU needs three more wins to get there.
Ricker had been on Sonny Dykes’ staff since December 2021, handling both the offensive line and co-offensive coordinator duties. Before arriving in Fort Worth, he coached the offensive line under Dykes at SMU and added co-offensive coordinator responsibilities there in 2020.
His first two seasons at TCU produced notable NFL movement up front. Five of his offensive linemen signed NFL contracts, including Steve Avila, who went in the second round to the Los Angeles Rams in 2023, and Brandon Coleman, a third-round pick by the Washington Commanders in 2024.
But this season’s problems proved too hard to ignore. Jaden Craig was sacked three times against West Virginia, pushing TCU’s season total to 20 sacks allowed. The Horned Frogs entered the year with expectations tied to a veteran line and the addition of transfer Noah McKinney, but protection has remained a problem.
According to TeamRankings, TCU’s quarterback sack percentage is 8.33 percent, tied for 107th nationally. The Frogs have given up 20 sacks through seven games, only two fewer than they allowed all of last season, and there are still five games left on the schedule.
The issues up front have fed into a broader offensive struggle. Even after Craig and the offense showed some improvement against Baylor, the line hasn’t given TCU enough stability, and the unit has been part of an offense that has struggled to produce consistently. Seven games into the year, the Horned Frogs still haven’t scored more than two touchdowns against a Power Four opponent.
There were also signs of life against the Mountaineers that didn’t hold up. TCU piled up 484 total yards, but three turnovers and a scoreless fourth quarter doomed the effort. The Horned Frogs took a 20-17 lead into the final period, only to watch West Virginia finish the game with the final touchdown.
Offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis and assistant offensive line coach Ryan Swingle are expected to take over the position group moving forward. Sammis is in his first season as TCU’s offensive coordinator, but he brings an extensive background coaching the offensive line and will likely be the one leading the push to steady things.
The schedule doesn’t offer much breathing room. TCU returns to Amon G.
Carter Stadium to face Kansas on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2:30 p.m. CT, before finishing the regular season with Arizona, Kansas State, Utah and Texas Tech.
In Other News...
TCU Fans Are Wrestling With A Sonny Dykes Reality Check
TCUs coaching history has set a high bar for whoever follows, and Sonny Dykes has spent the last couple of seasons living with the comparison. His tenure still includes the kind of breakthrough that reshaped the programs recent identity, but it has also come against the backdrop of a sport that keeps changing around the Horned Frogs, from roster churn to a tougher weekly climb in the Big 12. For fans who remember the long Gary Patterson era, the question is less about whether Dykes can coach than whether the standard at TCU has become impossible to satisfy.
The current frustration comes from the gap between what the program reached and what it has looked like since, with every uneven performance feeding the sense that the Horned Frogs are trying to hold onto something fleeting. TCU remains relevant in a league that demands constant adaptation, but the conversation around Dykes is now as much about sustaining credibility as it is about chasing another ceiling. However this season plays out, the larger issue is still there: how much patience does a fan base have when the sport itself has made consistency harder to find? [Read more 🡒]
TCU Finally Made A Move Fans Saw Coming Up Front
The frustration around TCUs offensive front has been building for weeks, and the latest defeat only sharpened the focus on a unit that has struggled to hold up its end of the bargain. The Horned Frogs have seen their rushing production slide while the quarterback has taken too many hits, leaving the offense looking out of sync in the kind of ways that usually draw attention to the sideline as much as the line of scrimmage.
For that reason, the move felt inevitable even before it became official. The change comes with the season still in motion, and it puts a new burden on the staff to stabilize a position group that has been under pressure all year. The next step is now just as important as the shakeup itself, because TCU needs the front to stop being a recurring problem if the offense is going to find any rhythm down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Still Looks Dangerous But TCU Fans Saw The Opening
Texas looked every bit like a team with national-level ability in its win over Ole Miss at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which is exactly the sort of thing TCU fans had to notice. The Longhorns built a 24-3 halftime lead and still had enough to hold off a furious Ole Miss push, leaving Texas with a victory that was impressive, if not entirely tidy.
Steve Sarkisian made sure not to oversell it afterward, acknowledging there were still things the Longhorns need to clean up even after escaping with the win. For TCU, that mix of firepower and lingering flaws is the opening worth watching, because Texas can look dangerous and still leave a path for an opponent willing to keep pressing. [Read more 🡒]