What is it about Dennis Franchione? How did a soft-spoken coach post an overall 133-52-2 collegiate record, a winning percentage placing him squarely at No. 11 among active Division I-A coaches? Punter Royce Huffman — groggy from a 5:30 a.m. workout and a 7 a.m. team meeting — doesn’t have the answers, but “something” inspired him to put on 20 pounds of muscle between last year’s 1-10 season and the one that has everyone holding their breath.

“Coach Fran has a saying,” said Huffman, whose sure hands also earned him a spot at wide receiver. “Everyone in the country has 24 hours in a day. The difference between winning and losing football teams is what you do during those 24 hours.” Franchione’s exact blue eyes have a game plan, all right.

“When you inherit a program that was maybe spiraling downward, one of the things you do is change the image, the mental psyche, the total plan,” he said. “This is about the fifth program that was down that I have taken over as head coach in order to turn around. My job is to get rid of those things that lagged a team in the past and then move forward.”

The most visible sign that Franchione has punted the old and huddled up the new are the Frog uniforms, complete with the meanest-looking Horned Frog ever. But more important, a new offensive scheme replaces the Sullivan-era setup. Adds Franchione, whose staff includes eight coaches who have nine or more years experience, “The players already have picked up a lot of it from the spring.”

Indeed, since the Frogs lost only three starters from last season’s squad, the question is not who plays where but rather how they play. With Franchione’s Multiple I framework, the Frogs hope to pass almost half of their offensive plays, with a lot of option plays in their running schemes. Many of the formations seen during this spring’s Purple-White game (TCU offense vs. TCU defense, basically) used as many as four wide receivers.

On the defensive side of the ball are more answers than questions for Franchione. Solid a year ago, the Frog wrecking crew, too, will operate under new orders, a 4-3 arrangement using three safeties and only two linebackers, a package that emphasizes TCU’s secondary speed.

“There will be some growing pains with a new coaching staff and new schemes,” Franchione said, “but the biggest thing is that this is not a 1-10 talent team.” Can Franchione do for TCU what he did, without exception, for three previous schools?

He thinks so, and his grin only broadens when he considers that TCU is also in the middle of one of the greatest recruiting states in the nation. “[TCU prospects] don’t have to fly over a bunch of other schools to get to me anymore,” he said. “In some cases, they’re just down the road.”