A former Texas Tech football coach and native of Ballinger died Monday. Spike Dykes was a legend in west Texas football with a career spanning high school and college, from Eastland High to Big Spring in high school. He coached at Mississippi State, Texas and Texas Tech. The latter were during the heyday of the old Southwest Conference.
Dykes was born in Lubbock on March 14, 1938 and raised in Ballinger. He played the position of center for the SFA Lumberjacks. The Stephen F. Austin graduate in 1959 served first as an assistant coach at Eastland High School right after graduation. During his high school coaching career, he served at Emory Ballard’s defensive coordinator at San Angelo Central High School.
In 1972, Dykes joined the coaching staff at The University of Texas. By 1980, he returned to high school as the head coach of Midland Lee. He coached there until 1983.
The Red Raiders hired him as an assistant coach in 1984, and he was named head coach in 1986. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Dykes’ record at Tech was 82-67-1 over 13-plus seasons. He was honored as the Southwest Conference coach of the year three times. After the SWC transitioned into the Big 12, he was named that conference’s coach of the year the first year of the Big 12.
His record at Tech saw the football team compete in seven bowl games.
During Dykes’ last game as coach in 1999, he coached Kliff Kingsbury. It was the current Texas Tech coach’s first year as a quarterback for the Red Raiders.
He is survived by to sons, Sonny Dykes –also a head football coach—and Rick. He has one daughter, Bebe. His wife, Sharon, preceded him in death in 2010.
Two memorial services will be held for Coach Dykes. The first will be on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Lubbock, and again at 2 p.m. Friday in Horseshoe Bay, where Dykes lived at the time of his death, on April 10, 2017. He was 79.
More on Spike Dykes:
- Former Tech coach Spike Dykes dies at 79 – Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
- Former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes dies at 79 - ESPN
- The right man at the right time: Spike Dykes brought Tech back to respectability – Lubbock Avalanche Journal.
- An oral history the Big 12's early years: With Texas Tech's Spike Dykes, John Montford, Gerald Myers and Bob Bockrath – RedRaiders.com
- Sharon Dykes: A coach's wife – Amarillo Globe-News
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