When Sonny Dykes took over the program, he knew he couldn’t have a repeat of his Cal tenure. The Golden Bears were consistently excellent on offense but worked through some of the worst defenses in FBS football.
Dykes convinced Northern Illinois defensive coordinator Kevin Kane — a rising defensive mind — to join the program. Even in year one, the decision paid dividends. Outside of a road blowout against UCF, the Mustangs didn’t lose any conference games by more than 10 points. On paper, SMU also jumped 30 spots in scoring defense and nearly 20 spots in total defense.