SPIKE DYKES EDITION / THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017 VOLUME 91 ISSUE 101
COURTESY OF SOUTHWEST COLLECTION/ SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY
1938 - 2017 “He was a heck of a person and a heck of a coach, and he will be missed.” — Carlos Mainord, former assistant football coach at Texas Tech University
“There’s an old saying: He could take his and beat you, and he could take yours and beat you. He got the most out of his players. He made each player feel important. There were players that didn’t play much, but he made them understand they were an important part of the team.” — Kent Hance, chancellor emeritus of the Texas Tech University System
“I’ve said it before: Spike was one of the best appointments I made as president of Texas Tech. He made me look like a genius.” — Lauro Cavazos, 10th president of Texas Tech University
“The players just loved him and loved playing for him. That was probably the thing that I saw more. That was hard to miss when he left. I haven’t seen many coaches that have connected with the players as well as he did.” — Joe Hornaday, sports information director for Spike Dykes
“It’s a big family. That’s the way coach went about his business every day. He included people. He was never standoffish. He always brought people in to the circle. That’s the greatest thing I could say about him. He always included people, and it felt like you were a part of it all the time.” — Billy Joe Tolliver, Texas Tech quarterback, 1984-1988
“He had so many experiences. He’s a great husband and a great father.” — Mack Brown, former University of Texas coach