Monday night’s 65-7 loss by the TCU Horned Frogs to the Georgia Bulldogs in college football’s national championship game must have brought back some painful memories for longtime Horned Frogs faithful.
There’s no getting around it, that was the one of the worst beatdowns in TCU history. Some have compared it to the likes of Texas’ 81-16 dismantling of the Frogs in Fort Worth in 1974.
Stop right there. Quite simply, there is no comparing these Horned Frogs with those teams from the dismal days. That was a time when any chance anyone from TCU had of seeing a national championship decided up close was by purchasing a ticket.
Monday’s outcome does not change the fact that this was a magical season for the Horned Frogs. A couple of notable folks from Aledo with longtime ties to TCU were around the Horned Frogs in the days when a handful of wins would have been considered a great season.
Mike Dry’s father, F.A. Dry, was the TCU coach from 1977-82. Coming on the heels of arguably the worst coach in Horned Frogs history, Jim Shoffner, who was 2-31 in three seasons, F.A. didn’t have much of a foundation. Though there was some progress in the team’s competitiveness, F.A.’s record was 12-51-3 in six seasons.
F.A. is now 91. What happened during his time and this season must seem like a trip to another galaxy.
“When my dad got there and I transferred there, the infrastructure wasn’t there,” Mike said. “TCU would be competitive and in the fourth quarter you’d wait for something bad to happen. Now, look at that Baylor game (a field goal as time ran out for a 29-28 win). That was crazy.”
Dry played outside linebacker at TCU from 1979-81. He transferred from Tulsa, where his dad coached before taking over the Horned Frogs. F.A. proved he could win at Tulsa, going 31-18-1 in four and a half seasons leading the Golden Hurricane.
“TCU ruined his coaching career,” Mike said, though just like his son, F.A. remains a fan and even made the trip to Los Angeles to see Monday’s game with Mike.
F.A. never had another head coaching gig after his time at TCU, though he did work as an assistant for nine years at Baylor after.
Mike credits legendary Horned Frogs coach Gary Patterson for “stabilizing the program.”
“He was like a business entrepreneur going against a Fortune 500 company,” Mike said of Patterson, who was also there cheering on his former team.
Mike’s nephew, Matt Panfill, was a safety when he played high school ball at North Crowley. Patterson moved him to defensive end and by the time he graduated he went from 195 to 245 pounds and was a three-time all-conference selection.
“Who would have thought that? That’s what I mean by resourceful,” Mike said.
Mike is the president and founder of Athletic Performance Ranch near Aledo. He works with all sorts of athletes and he said many are now giving TCU an even closer look than before.
“A lot of our kids have TCU on their radar where they didn’t before,” he said. “Also, what they’ve done with their social media has helped.”
Of course, nothing is more attractive than winning. And, in spite of what happened Monday, TCU’s program is, without question, a winner.
The current rules involving the transfer portal and name/image/likeness also appear to be helping the Horned Frogs.
“If the NIL money is there, why not come to Fort Worth? We can compete for a national championship here. We can get exposure here,” Mike said.
Gloria Gilbert Barron, Miss Texas 1982 and a 1985 TCU graduate, made a record with former TCU head football coach Jim Wacker entitled “I Was Purple When Purple Wasn’t Cool” when Wacker was leading the program.
She’s still purple and purple is very cool these days, especially in the Fort Worth area. But she remembers the dismal days, when the team was 14-27-4 during her time at the school.
“It was exciting to go to the games, but we didn’t win,” she said. “But everybody kept going and the team kept on trying. And we never stopped dreaming.”
In her final year at TCU, the Horned Frogs appeared to turn a corner as Wacker led them to an 8-4 record in his second season at the helm. They started the next season 3-0, but recruiting violations led to Wacker dismissing All-American running back Kenneth Davis and five others from the team. They finished 3-8 and did not have another winning season under Wacker.
And while Monday night didn’t turn out like Barron and her fellow TCU faithful were hoping for, she remains faithful and optimistic that a national championship is out there for her team.
“I don’t think Horned Frog fans ever give up,” she said.
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