By Jeff Wilson
Frogs Today senior writer
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The lead up to a big bowl game features a series of press conferences for both teams.
One day it’s the offense and the other team’s defense, and the next day it flips. Coordinators and assistant coaches who rarely talk during the season are also made available to the media.
So are the head coaches, of course.
It’s nothing new for them, though the spotlight shines a little brighter.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, a college and NFL quarterback before becoming a coach at both levels, has been through enough press conferences to not bat an eye at them. They’ve probably become a nuisance.
TCU coach Sonny Dykes has been to bowl games, too, though the Fiesta Bowl is the biggest of his career and the lights are the brightest.
He has flourished this week on the big stage.
The first-year Frogs coach has had the media in stitches a couple times the past two days. He’s spoken eloquently about his team, gotten a bit emotional talking about his father and Mike Leach, and hasn’t missed a chance to thank the bowl staff, various cities in Phoenix Metro, and sponsor Vrbo.
It seems as if Dykes knows how to perform when the lights come on.
He’s that way they turn off, too.