Both Tommy McVay and Rodney Allison met with the media today to share their thoughts on Coach Dykes...
TOMMY MCVAY
Thoughts on Coach Dykes:
"Well, shocked, as everybody would be. It's not a very good day day. It makes you weak at your knees, especially with the time we had together. We lost a great man. He's a great ambassador for Texas Tech and Lubbock and Texas in general, but everybody in the country knew him. It wasn't just Texas. Everybody knew him. It's a sad day for everybody, but we need to celebrate him, cause he was one of a kind, and you're not ever going to find another one like him. So, it's hard, but at the same time, our prayers go out to his family, and we've got to move on."
Thoughts on favorite stories or memories about Coach Dykes:
"The way he was, you may go in his office, and he'll have his shirt off, his shorts on, shoes, and socks, and he'll walk right out into the hallway, up and down the hallway like that. That was Spike Dykes. There's so many things that he's done throughout that period of time. Had a good friend tell me one time, he said the greatest compliment you can give to a guy is call him a man. Spike Dykes was a man, and there's nobody like him. Like I said a while ago, he's one of a kind, and we won't ever have another one. We enjoyed it while we could, and all the great memories we have, we've got to live with those."
On his first meeting with Coach Dykes:
"A coach at K-State told me, when you get to Lubbock, you need to meet Spike Dykes. Sure enough, the first thing I did was come out to practice that spring, and I met him, and told him who I was, and he didn't really care, but that was fine," he laughed. "What they said, that's the way he was. He loved everybody. If you wrote Spike Dykes a note, or if you called him, he's gonna call you back, and he was gonna send that note back to you, and not everybody does that. I've been around a lot of coaches, and they don't have the time to do that. But, he would take the time for everybody."
On Coach Dykes' impact around the community of Lubbock and as a coach:
"Sometimes they forget about the kind of football coach he was, and he was a great football coach. He did a lot of great things for Texas Tech when they needed some help, and he did that. He brought some life and energy and a lot of good things back for Texas Tech, and you can't replace that."
On the reverence that so many college coaches showed Coach Dykes today and the impact he had on so many coaches:
"He did, and not only the college coaches or the university coaches. Everybody loved him, (including) high school coaches. Sometimes you forget about that when you get to college. You think you get a little better than those people, and you're not. Spike was one of the high school coaches in Texas for a long time, and he never forgot those roots that he came from, and those coaches hadn't forgotten him. I'm sure they learned a lot from him."
On how Coach Dykes impacted him:
"If it wasn't him, I wouldn't be here today. I got out of the business, was out of football for eight or nine years, and Spike Dykes came and said why don't you come and be my recruiting coordinator after we sold our businesses out. I wasn't doing anything. I might be driving a bus right now or whatever the case may be, but he gave me another opportunity to get back in this field, and I've been here for 21 years, been very fortunate, but everything I've done today and have is because of him. You can't get around that. I love that man."
RODNEY ALLISON
Overall thoughts on Coach Dykes:
"I think Spike exemplified everything that's Texas Tech University, West Texas, and Texas Tech football. To me, and I love the history of Tech football, Spike has carved out a huge block of Texas Tech football history, and I think it was critical when he came to Tech and built the foundation for the successes we've had in the last 20, 25 years. I think Spike is Mr. Tech Football."
"He's honest. He's true. He likes everybody. He treats the president of the university and the janitor the same. There's not a lot of people that do that. Spike just makes you feel better about yourself. Spike was a special person that - it's gonna be hard losing him. That's for sure."
Favorite memories, stories about Coach Dykes:
"I've heard all the stories like most of you have, but he recruited me when I was in high school. I was 18 years old, and he walked in the house back in the day with Darrell Royal, and for you younger folks, a young 18 year old, and I had to walk in that room and tell Spike Dykes and Darrell Royal that I was going to Texas Tech. I was hiding in my bedroom and my dad made me go out and face Spike and Darrell Royal. You don't remember a lot of things that happened to you that long ago, but I happened to that. But you know what, later on Spike treated me like it didn't matter. He just treated me - and Spike loved Texas Tech. I'm telling you, Spike loved Texas Tech. That was who he was. It wasn't Texas. It wasn't any of that. He loved Texas Tech."
On the impact Coach Dykes had in the college football community:
"History will serve Spike Dykes well in that way. But the thing about Spike, and there's a lot of head coaches throughout the country that have coached for a hundred years, but I promise you that Spike was a guy that those players that played for him, they loved Spike Dykes. I've gotten calls all day long, been on the phone all day. The players sincerely loved the man. They did. He treated them, coached them, brought them up, made them from young men into men, and he had a great impact on these players, and I'm not sure where they'll have the funeral, but I'm not sure this stadium is big enough to have this funeral. We've lost an icon today.
TOMMY MCVAY
Thoughts on Coach Dykes:
"Well, shocked, as everybody would be. It's not a very good day day. It makes you weak at your knees, especially with the time we had together. We lost a great man. He's a great ambassador for Texas Tech and Lubbock and Texas in general, but everybody in the country knew him. It wasn't just Texas. Everybody knew him. It's a sad day for everybody, but we need to celebrate him, cause he was one of a kind, and you're not ever going to find another one like him. So, it's hard, but at the same time, our prayers go out to his family, and we've got to move on."
Thoughts on favorite stories or memories about Coach Dykes:
"The way he was, you may go in his office, and he'll have his shirt off, his shorts on, shoes, and socks, and he'll walk right out into the hallway, up and down the hallway like that. That was Spike Dykes. There's so many things that he's done throughout that period of time. Had a good friend tell me one time, he said the greatest compliment you can give to a guy is call him a man. Spike Dykes was a man, and there's nobody like him. Like I said a while ago, he's one of a kind, and we won't ever have another one. We enjoyed it while we could, and all the great memories we have, we've got to live with those."
On his first meeting with Coach Dykes:
"A coach at K-State told me, when you get to Lubbock, you need to meet Spike Dykes. Sure enough, the first thing I did was come out to practice that spring, and I met him, and told him who I was, and he didn't really care, but that was fine," he laughed. "What they said, that's the way he was. He loved everybody. If you wrote Spike Dykes a note, or if you called him, he's gonna call you back, and he was gonna send that note back to you, and not everybody does that. I've been around a lot of coaches, and they don't have the time to do that. But, he would take the time for everybody."
On Coach Dykes' impact around the community of Lubbock and as a coach:
"Sometimes they forget about the kind of football coach he was, and he was a great football coach. He did a lot of great things for Texas Tech when they needed some help, and he did that. He brought some life and energy and a lot of good things back for Texas Tech, and you can't replace that."
On the reverence that so many college coaches showed Coach Dykes today and the impact he had on so many coaches:
"He did, and not only the college coaches or the university coaches. Everybody loved him, (including) high school coaches. Sometimes you forget about that when you get to college. You think you get a little better than those people, and you're not. Spike was one of the high school coaches in Texas for a long time, and he never forgot those roots that he came from, and those coaches hadn't forgotten him. I'm sure they learned a lot from him."
On how Coach Dykes impacted him:
"If it wasn't him, I wouldn't be here today. I got out of the business, was out of football for eight or nine years, and Spike Dykes came and said why don't you come and be my recruiting coordinator after we sold our businesses out. I wasn't doing anything. I might be driving a bus right now or whatever the case may be, but he gave me another opportunity to get back in this field, and I've been here for 21 years, been very fortunate, but everything I've done today and have is because of him. You can't get around that. I love that man."
RODNEY ALLISON
Overall thoughts on Coach Dykes:
"I think Spike exemplified everything that's Texas Tech University, West Texas, and Texas Tech football. To me, and I love the history of Tech football, Spike has carved out a huge block of Texas Tech football history, and I think it was critical when he came to Tech and built the foundation for the successes we've had in the last 20, 25 years. I think Spike is Mr. Tech Football."
"He's honest. He's true. He likes everybody. He treats the president of the university and the janitor the same. There's not a lot of people that do that. Spike just makes you feel better about yourself. Spike was a special person that - it's gonna be hard losing him. That's for sure."
Favorite memories, stories about Coach Dykes:
"I've heard all the stories like most of you have, but he recruited me when I was in high school. I was 18 years old, and he walked in the house back in the day with Darrell Royal, and for you younger folks, a young 18 year old, and I had to walk in that room and tell Spike Dykes and Darrell Royal that I was going to Texas Tech. I was hiding in my bedroom and my dad made me go out and face Spike and Darrell Royal. You don't remember a lot of things that happened to you that long ago, but I happened to that. But you know what, later on Spike treated me like it didn't matter. He just treated me - and Spike loved Texas Tech. I'm telling you, Spike loved Texas Tech. That was who he was. It wasn't Texas. It wasn't any of that. He loved Texas Tech."
On the impact Coach Dykes had in the college football community:
"History will serve Spike Dykes well in that way. But the thing about Spike, and there's a lot of head coaches throughout the country that have coached for a hundred years, but I promise you that Spike was a guy that those players that played for him, they loved Spike Dykes. I've gotten calls all day long, been on the phone all day. The players sincerely loved the man. They did. He treated them, coached them, brought them up, made them from young men into men, and he had a great impact on these players, and I'm not sure where they'll have the funeral, but I'm not sure this stadium is big enough to have this funeral. We've lost an icon today.
