William Taylor "Spike" Dykes (March 14, 1938 – April 10, 2017) was an American football coach. A high school and college football coach throughout his career, he last served as head coach at Texas Tech University from 1986 to 1999.
Dykes moved to Texas Tech in 1984, serving as defensive coordinator under Jerry Moore and David McWilliams. When McWilliams left for Texas after the 1986 season, Dykes was named his successor. He was the first coach in school history to lead the team to seven straight bowl-eligible seasons and to coach the team in seven bowl games.
Dykes was the school's first coach to defeat the Texas Longhorns in six different seasons. He earned three Southwest Conference and one Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year honors.[2] His record at Tech stands at 82–67–1. On November 20, 1999, Dykes retired after 13 seasons as head coach.[3] His 82 wins were the most in school history until his successor, Mike Leach, passed him in 2009.
One of Dykes' two sons, Sonny, is also a college football coach, currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU). The younger Dykes previously served as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University from 2010 to 2012, the University of California, Berkeley from 2013 to 2016, and Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2017 to 2021. Dykes' other son, Rick, spent many years as an assistant football coach at Texas Tech, including a stint as offensive coordinator. Rick was later a partner of the now disgraced Reagor Dykes Auto Group. Dykes also had a daughter, Bebe.
^Leschper, Lee (September 19, 2002). "Spike likes retirement". Amarillo Globe-News. Archived from the original on January 3, 2004. Retrieved August 26, 2016.