The last two college football coaches at Cal could soon be bigwigs in the G5. Jeff Tedford returned to the collegiate ranks and led Fresno State to the edge of a Mountain West conference championship after going 1-11 last season. Now Sonny Dykes seems on the verge of a similar job in his neck of the woods, as he could potentially be named the next SMU head coach tomorrow.
Former Cal and Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes has emerged as the leading candidate for SMU's coaching vacancy, according to sources. A deal hasn't been finalized, but Dykes could be hired as early as Monday. Dykes, who is 41-44 as an FBS head coach,... https://t.co/hnCckcDpgb
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 11, 2017
Dykes was the head coach of the California Golden Bears from 2013 to 2016. Upon being fired, Cal owed him $5.88 million for being terminated without cause. Dykes spent the year at TCU as an offensive analyst.
This could be potentially fantastic for Cal regarding buyout mitigation, as Dykes’s contract made it clear that getting hired for another job would alleviate the Bears of the need to pay him for the years of unemployment (similar deal with the TCU contract, although obviously Dykes likely got paid much less in that position). SMU’s old coach Chad Morris made an estimated $2 million annum. A similar contract for Dykes would significantly cut into what Cal still owes him.
Good on coach for potentially landing a new job, and alleviating the Bears of additional financial burden.