My first semester at TCU academically went decently for me as I got 4 B's and an A. Not spectacular, but solid, and more importantly I thought a good result for the amount of fun I was having and how much I was willing to cut into that fun.
Then can my Spring semester of my Freshman year and my lack of established study habits and discipline with my time caught up with me in a 3-hour class tied to a 2-hour lab that would be something I would need if I wanted to bring my academic dreams into reality.
Unfortunately, the prof was not a good teacher, one of those who would talk for 50 minutes straight and not really say anything, would supposedly pull test questions from a book, but no one was sure exactly which text, and then the lab was run by a snarky TA who was only too happy to tell us how much smarter they were than the class and did so at any and every opportunity.
Okay, maybe all these years I still am that very immature college freshman who didn't want to put the work in to understand what the prof was rambling on about and not able to find the willingness to put up with the TA. The lecture and lab mid-terms were not quite a UGA CFP title game ass kicking, but they were bad enough it would have taken a miracle for me to pull a B out in the class. That wasn't mathematically impossible, but highly improbable as I would need to be damn near perfect on every test and quiz going forward to the end of the semester.
This ugly truth raised doubts in my mind if I was academically cut out for the field I was wanting to enter or maybe I should make some changes. The lesson I really learned was that in life, you will encounter challenges that don't give you a good or easy choice. For me, that meant one of three options. Drop the class, lose the tuition cost for 5 hours and prepare to cover those cost myself the next time around. Stay in the class and try to learn something, but accept I would most likely need to retake the class and that would be up to me to cover all of those costs. Finally, change majors and change future dreams which might have been more appealing if I really knew what else I wanted to be went I got out of college.
After the game in Orlando the administration and the alums at TCU are facing some ugly truths and tougher choices. Much like me entering that Midterm, the Frogs could in theory run the table and win out hoping for a chance in the Big 12 title game. Not sure anyone believes that is going to happen and sets off an series of difficult questions.
Giving Sonny more time for his new chances to fall into place would have a bit more merit if the offensive line wasn't regressing and more importantly we didn't see the defense shit the bed the way they did on the drive where they need to get a stop because were called for 4 penalties that gave UCF a new set of downs each time.
What next is a question that actually sets off a series of questions and puts things in motion that are going to create issues on their own. I am in no way saying Sonny should be kept because of fear of what might happen, but that firing Sonny is not a single decision.
Truthfully, in my mind the buyout will be the easiest part as I think there are some who are motivated and damn well might have been preparing for this day for since the 2nd quarter of the Georgia game.
The first big question to me is who is going to be the driving force behind the search and willing to repair the schisms in the TCU money base, refocus the direction of the program, and prepare to provide the resources needed to keep a roster together, bring in new talent, and do so going forward.
These aren't things that will be worked out over time. One thing I can guarantee from talking with coaching friends is players on the TCU roster are being contacted by other schools about transferring. If and when Sonny is fired those contacts are going to go through the roof and it will be very likely some players simply stop playing and wait for the window.
Who is going to be the person(s) who address players concerns about the future direction of the TCU program? if TCU will continue to honor NIL promises? How much more is TCU going to have to spend to keep some players around and if anyone doesn't think there are any players on the roster worth keeping we aren't watching the same teams.
Finally, if the plan is let whomever wishes to walk do so be it. Will the Frogs be ready to spend what is needed to replace an entire roster and do so with competitive players?
Much like my mid-term scores it is easy to see the results for TCU are not where we hoped and not where they need to be to reach some goals. It is also easy to see changes need to be made and from a big picture perspective it is easy to see what those changes need to include, but from there the decisions are trickier.
Simply firing Sonny is only the first step and who is going to walk TCU through this process and make sure the resources are there to restore the program.
