Tommy McVay Gets Choked Up Over Spike Dykes’ Death: ‘He Was One of a Kind’
Tommy McVay, director of football operations at Texas Tech, shared his favorite Spike Dykes memories and what the dearly departed football coach meant to West Texas.
McVay, who was hired by Dykes and will mark 21 years with Texas Tech Athletics this season, mourned the loss during a press briefing in the Masked Rider Lobby at Jones AT&T Stadium. Just outside the room, a picture of Dykes adorned the stadium's scoreboard, with a simple message: "Thank you, Coach."
"It's not a very good day," McVay said to reporters, adding: "We lost a great man, a great ambassador for Texas Tech, and Lubbock, and Texas in general."
McVay called Dykes "one of a kind" -- a description supported by a funny memory about the head coach.
"The way he was, you'd go in his office, he may have his shirt off, shorts on and no shoes and socks, and he'd walk right out up and down the hallway like that. That was Spike Dykes," said McVay.
McVay also revealed what his first meeting with Dykes was like.
"The first thing I did, I came out to practice that spring, I met him and told him who I was, and he didn't really care, but he was fine," McVay said. "He loved everyone. And if you wrote Spike Dykes a note, if you called him...he's going to call you back. And he's going to send that note back to you. Not everyone does that. I've been around a lot of coaches and they don't have the time to do that. But he would take the time for everybody."
But for all of Dykes' good deeds off the field, his impact on Texas Tech football is sometimes overlooked, McVay said.
"Sometimes they forget about what kind of football coach he was, and he was a great football coach. He did a lot of great things for Texas Tech when they needed that help," McVay said. "He brought some life, and energy, and a lot of good things back for Texas Tech. You can't replace that."
Dykes passed away Monday, April 10, 2017. He was 79.
You can watch the full discussion with Tommy McVay in the video above.
- RIP
Spike Dykes Passes Away at 79