CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The American Football Coaches Association has named TCU's Sonny Dykes as its 2022 National Coach of the Year.

Dykes has now totaled eight National Coach of the Year awards this season.

In his first year at TCU, Dykes led the Horned Frogs to their first College Football Playoff appearance and trip to the CFP National Championship. Picked to finish seventh in the Big 12, TCU was No. 2 in the final Associated Press poll and the second team to be in the CFP after starting the season unranked. TCU also became just the third team since 1998 to play for a national title while beginning the season unranked. TCU's six wins over ranked opponents, including a victory over No. 2 Michigan in the CFP Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, tied for the national lead.
 
Dykes is only the third head coach in the CFP era to guide his team to the playoff in his first season at the helm. The unanimous Big 12 Coach of the Year, Dykes became the first head football coach in TCU and Big 12 history to start 12-0 in his first season. He's just the fourth head coach nationally since 1996 to accomplish the feat.

TCU was the first Big 12 team to complete the regular season with a 12-0 record since 2009 and the first league member to go 9-0 in conference play since 2016. TCU's 13 wins this season tied a program record set by the 2010 team.

Dykes coached quarterback Max Duggan into a Heisman Trophy runner-up and recipient of the Davey O'Brien Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Duggan was also one of five TCU All-Americans, which included consensus choice Steve Avila at offensive guard and cornerback Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson who won the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back.