Phatterson

[crash_davis 23101]

2 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

 

yep, he'll help bag Mathis for us.....

lulz

[LTtxfan 49144]

 

[Horn Dogg 3874]

16 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Still fat.  But let that fatass coach the defense.....or the whole team....or whatever.  At least he’s not at at TCU anymore.

I’m drunk.  Does that count as a haiku?

Edited April 23, 2022 by Horn Dogg

[Radical Larry 28563]

[LTtxfan 49144]

[LTtxfan 49144]

 

[MH BEVO 1265]

10 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Did he forget to bring a towel?

[LTtxfan 49144]

 

[UTEE97 3513]

Wrong thread

Edited April 23, 2022 by UTEE97

[UTEE97 3513]

Defense still can't tackle anybody. Fire PK now before the fall camp.

[lilMAC25 3788]

1 hour ago, MH BEVO said:

Did he forget to bring a towel?

He just picks up random woodlands creatures and/or furries from the stands and wipes his face off on their multicolored pelt.

[LTtxfan 49144]

 

[Nope 3114]

On 4/23/2022 at 6:17 PM, LTtxfan said:

Still rocking the horns down

[Eskimohorn 5630]

Still rocking the horns down

we’re gonna go 4-8, arent we?

[LTtxfan 49144]

Friday the 13th 😋

On Texas Football:  Sark Talks Patterson & More

[LTtxfan 49144]

HaHaHaHa 😋

Gary Patterson spoke highly of Steve Sarkisian in a recent interview

May 28, 2022 

In what could be one of the most important offseason additions, the Longhorns were able to add former TCU head coach Gary Patterson to their staff.

The defensive guru was hired as the special assistant to the head coach, and is expected to assist Texas on the defensive side of the ball, an area they struggled mightily on last season.

During various brief encounters, Patterson has expressed how thrilled he is with the new gig and how much he admires Steve Sarkisian’s work ethic and the energy he brings.

Patterson recently spoke with ESPN Central Texas host Matt Mosley in his first extended interview and discussed Sarkisian and how complimentary the rest of the staff is.

"Sark fires me up. He really does, recruiting-wise, all of it. He gets after it. The staff we have down to the support people, everybody we have, all the way down to (athletic director Chris) Del Conte. He gives you what you want, want you need to be successful. So, we need to be successful."

Patterson is one of the more accomplished head coaches in modern college football history after he was able to lead the Horned Frogs to a 181-79 record in 22 seasons prior to parting ways.

[Blotto 23490]

Axios claims Gary's pay is $150K per year which seems pretty low unless he just shows up occasionally. Anyone else heard differently? Of course, he's probably also rolling in that Spotify money from his smash hit "Take a Step Back" 

[Pig Bellmont 8712]

46 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Axios claims Gary's pay is $150K per year which seems pretty low unless he just shows up occasionally. Anyone else heard differently? Of course, he's probably also rolling in that Spotify money from his smash hit "Take a Step Back" 

TCU still paying a hefty buyout so he’s fine. 

[LTtxfan 49144]

1 hour ago, Blotto said:

Axios claims Gary's pay is $150K per year which seems pretty low unless he just shows up occasionally. Anyone else heard differently? Of course, he's probably also rolling in that Spotify money from his smash hit "Take a Step Back" 

Tcu still paying heavy freight of Phatterson salary... 

"BIG BUCKS-  Millions of dollars"

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by LTtxfan

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

I wish phatterson was the DC. 

[EZ$ 2102]

11 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

I wish phatterson was the DC. 

Can you wait until week 3??

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

7 minutes ago, EZ$ said:

Can you wait until week 3??

I was hoping before we play bama and we get the Greg Robinson turn around. Not that we lose week one just after we win 77-70 we shit can his ass and promote phatterson then we upset bama 6-0.

[Tex Long 4383]

2 hours ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

I wish phatterson was the DC. 

If it turns out to be needful, he will be. 

Or maybe HC.

I wish I knew whether he's reporting what he's seeing to Kwitkowsky, or to Sark, or to Del Conte. I'm assuming he IS reporting to at least one of them.

[GringoSalado 1651]

20 hours ago, Tex Long said:

I'm assuming he IS reporting to at least one of them.

I'm assuming CDC called him and said, "I need you to come take a look at our defense, we may have hired an idiot to run it."

[Tex Long 4383]

8 minutes ago, GringoSalado said:

I'm assuming CDC called him and said, "I need you to come take a look at our defense, we may have hired an idiot to run it."

While we are all throwing shit in Kwitkowski's direction, I need to qualify my flinging somewhat. I am having a really hard time believing PK is as worthless as that first season makes him appear. Right this instant, I'm willing to give him a couple of games to let him show us he understands his role here -  part of which includes Sarkisian showing us the same.

I opine that both of them coached last season under the (do I need say, mistaken?) impression that they were operating with a freebee and their performance was not required to show anything other than a bright future. Falling completely on their asses turned out to be unacceptable, particularly so in commparison with MensaTom's last year.

I further opine that they have learned their lessons and will pull out all the stops to win every game they coach. Whether they are capable remains to be seen... but let's not let it go much past Bama, certainly not past 0U, before Del Conte steps in and Patterson takes some or all reins. I have the impression that Del Conte has heard from some folks who are not happy about getting stuck with buy-out bucks twice in a few years and will not react kindly to another occurrence.

[LTtxfan 49144]

FCB...  In this week's edition of The Insider, Gary Patterson talks to Horns247 about his newly released song The Day I Walk Away, the Power Five defensive coordinator jobs he turned down, his time at Texas so far and if he'll ever coach again

The Insider: Unplugged with Gary Patterson on Texas, football, life and 'The Day I Walk Away'

By FUCK CHIP BROWN    98 min ago

Quote

Gary Patterson has always done things in his own way — whether it be changing shirts mid-game to create better mojo (as he did in a 31-point comeback against Oregon in the 2016 Alamo Bowl) or deciding to write a song about his time at TCU rather than holding a farewell press conference.

“You know of any other coach who wrote a song to say good-bye?” Patterson laughed.

Last week, Patterson released "The Day I Walk Away" to the public (on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon or wherever you listen to music).

“I’ll admit, I always wanted to be Garth Brooks,” Patterson said, crediting JT Hodges and Jim Beavers for collaborating with him on the song. “If you listen to it, I think the production, the music behind it and everything sounds good. The best part is, I haven’t yelled since October, so my voice sounds good. Not much raspiness.”

In an exclusive interview with Horns247, Patterson talked about the meaning of the song; the Power Five defensive coordinator jobs he turned down in December; taking a special assistant job at Texas; one notable reaction he got while wearing burnt orange; if he’ll ever coach again; the College Football Hall of Fame; and how he felt after his first staff meeting at Texas with Steve Sarkisian.

"One of the better moments was when I went to my first staff meeting and when it was over, I got up and I wasn’t in charge of anything that was talked about," Patterson laughed.

Right now, though, Patterson is wrapping up his scouting reports on the offenses of UT’s upcoming opponents this fall.

“I’ve just finished breaking down the offenses of our first five opponents,” Patterson told Horns247. “I’ve done ULM, Alabama, UTSA and Texas Tech, whose offensive coordinator came from Western Kentucky.

“Now, I’m on to Ole Miss because that’s where Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator (Jeff Lebby) came from. And then I’ll finish with West Virginia, whose offensive coordinator (Graham Harrell) just came from USC.

“Everyone who’s not out recruiting, that’s what they’ve been doing is breaking down (opponents) — not just myself.”

As TCU’s defensive play caller in addition to being head coach, Patterson is a junky for breaking down the offenses of upcoming opponents. He always did it right after spring football concluded at TCU. Now, he’s putting together his notes on the Longhorns’ 2022 opponents and handing them over to Sarkisian.

“I like how hard Sark works,” Patterson said. “I really have appreciated the way he goes about it.

“He works hard. He works hard at recruiting. He works hard at all of it. I know what it’s like to be the head coach and call plays. And then the way recruiting is now and you throw NIL into it and the transfer portal — for heaven’s sakes. The job is different than it was two or three years ago.”

After being at the same place for more than 20 years as the head coach, Patterson is learning again. He’s learning from Sarkisian and from guys like Jeff Banks, whom Patterson considers one of the best in football when it comes to special teams and recruiting.

“One of the things about coming to Texas for me was you’ve got guys who came from Alabama and Sark has coached at USC — all these different places,” Patterson said. “So I’ve been learning also. I really like a lot of things we do special teams-wise. There’s things in recruiting I’ve learned that I think I’d take.

“So there’s been things I’ve learned being here that have been good for me if I would ever go back and (be a head coach again). You’ve got a lot of guys who’ve come from a lot of good programs and won a lot of ballgames. That’s been a big positive for me, which is one of the things I’ve been most excited about.”

So does that mean Patterson wants to be a head coach again? More on that in a minute.

Right now, he’s focused on helping Texas win the way Patterson’s Horned Frogs did when they beat the Longhorns seven of the past 10 years.

Before TCU’s home game against Texas in 2015, when the Horned Frogs had some key injuries on defense, Patteson famously told the sideline reporter just before kickoff, “We’ve beaten better with less" — and then watched his team dismantle Texas 50-7.

“By the time I convinced myself and our team and by the time you got to game time — there were hardly any ballgames I coached where I didn’t think we could win it,” Patterson said. “If you’re not someone who can do that, then you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Patterson, who played safety and linebacker at Kansas State in 1980 and 1981, has always been seen as the ultimate underdog with a never-ending chip on his shoulder.

"I wouldn't say that," Patterson said. "I just hate to lose — at anything!"

So what was it about Patterson having his team ready for Texas as if playing in the national championship game?

“I don’t know if it was so much about me, because you approach every game the same,” Patterson said. “I think it was about our players. Kind of like what SMU was to TCU — they didn’t get recruited by ‘em, so you play your ass off because you want to show ‘em you belong.”

But did Patterson push that prove-‘em-wrong storyline to his players the week of the Texas game?

“No. I didn’t have to,” he said. “The coach’s job is to get the team up for the games you’re supposed to win. The big games are supposed to take care of themselves. That’s how you lose ballgames, when you get your guys out of character.

“That’s like this year. Everyone’s gonna talk about (Texas’ game against) Alabama as a big game. That one’s gonna take care of itself. But we should get ready for UTSA and everyone else. The Bama game will take care of itself. Everyone’s gonna be talking about that one.”

So, is it weird any time Patterson puts on burnt orange or the Longhorn logo after being the Purple Menace for so long?

“That wasn’t a problem at all,” said Patterson, who received all of his settlement money from TCU in one lump sum and is earning $150,000 as a special assistant at Texas.

“More people, including Longhorns and TCU people, seem to have more of a problem with it than I do. I had a Texas guy say, ‘I hope you’ll forgive me, because there’s a lot of bad names I’ve called you over the last 10 years.’”

Maybe Patterson saw his dismissal at TCU coming — maybe he didn’t.

But this past Halloween — one day after TCU had suffered its third straight, double-digit loss, dropping the team to 3-5 — TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati and chancellor Victor Boschini came to see him.

“I said 10 years ago — and it’s not just in coaching, it can be business or something else — at some point they just want to hear someone else say it,” Patterson said.

“So, after 21 years as head coach (at TCU) and almost 25 years total, through covid and everything else that went on, they thought it was time. They didn’t really give me a reason. They wanted to go in a different direction, and we hadn’t won enough ballgames in the last couple years.”

Patterson, 62, was 181-79 at TCU. He won six conference championships and won double-digit games 11 times, including a 13-0 season in 2010 capped with a 21-19 Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin that helped TCU become a member of the Big 12 beginning in 2012.

Patterson talks about that trip to the Rose Bowl in his song "The Day I Walk Away."

“The thing that was most amazing to me — and I mention in the song ‘the suffocation of the crowd’ — and that was when we pulled into the Rose Bowl on the buses,” Patterson said.

“They had not let the fans into the stadium yet, and there was 95,000 people in purple for TCU and red for Wisconsin. When the buses came through, it was like a river of people who were moving out of the way. You had goosebumps. You’re talking about a 50-year-old guy, at that time, and if I felt that way, can you imagine what the kids felt like?”

Patterson said “three to five things had to go just right” for TCU to get invited to that Rose Bowl:

The Pac-12 champion (Oregon) had to play for the national championship (the Ducks did, playing Auburn); TCU had to go undefeated; and Boise State, which was also undefeated 10 games into the season, needed to lose.

“I remember we were sitting in Albuquerque on Thanksgiving, and we’re going over the game plan for our game the next day against New Mexico while watching Reno play Boise,” Patterson said. “Reno comes back with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback and beats ‘em (34-31 in overtime), and suddenly they’re about to throw us out of our hotel.

“It’s one of those hotels where all the rooms open into a giant atrium, and our players were going nuts, yelling and screaming and making a bunch of noise that every room could hear. So the hotel was calling me telling me they were going to kick guys out of their rooms.”

Rose Bowl officials typically don’t like it when their game doesn’t feature the tradition of the Pac-12 champion against the Big Ten champion. But then-TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte bought a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times thanking the Rose Bowl.

“I’m not really sure that Rose Bowl pageantry - if there’s anything else like that in college football,” Patterson said. “I’m not sure they wanted TCU. But when we were done, I think they were glad we were there. We left ‘em an ad thanking them. It showed how to do something with class.”

One of the things Patterson is most proud of when he talks about that Rose Bowl win with Andy Dalton at quarterback:

“Dalton’s recruiting class was ranked 65th,” Patterson said. “But we ended up having 10 guys from that team drafted or go to NFL teams as free agents.”

After going 4-8 in 2013, Patterson said Del Conte came to him asking Patterson what he needed to score more points. Patterson hired co-offensive coordinators Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham, and with Trevon Boykin at quarterback, TCU went 12-1 in 2014, nearly making the College Football Playoff in its first season. But after the committee made TCU No. 3 in the week before college football’s conference championship games, the committee inexplicably dropped the Horned Frogs to No. 5 (despite a 55-3 win over Iowa State that week), allowing Ohio State into the playoff.

“The wrong part of that was they never should’ve made us No. 3 in the first place if they weren’t going to put us in,” Patterson said. “You shouldn’t set kids up to break their hearts, and that’s what they did.”

TCU unveiled a statue of Patterson outside Amon G. Carter Stadium in 2016.

"The story of Gary Patterson and the rise in the fortunes of the TCU football program over the last 20 years is clearly one of the most remarkable in the history of college football," Donati said in a statement. "We are grateful to Gary and Kelsey Patterson and appreciate everything they have meant to TCU and the Fort Worth community. Under his leadership, TCU has become a nationally recognized brand name in football and in collegiate athletics."

Patterson said he knew he wanted to say good-bye in a song one week after being let go by TCU. The words started coming to him, and "The Day I Walk Away" was born:

I’m gonna miss those autumn leaves

Feel the grass beneath my feet

I’m gonna wish I had it back one day.

The day I walk away.

I’m gonna bet that purple sky

Takes me back to you and I.

 

All the promises and memories made,

The day I walk away.

 

I want you to know I did my best

No hard feelings, no regrets.

I want you to know I’ll be all right,

Gonna hold my head up high.

I want you to know I did it all

For the love of the game.

The day I walk away.

The day I walk away.

 

The suffocation of the crowd,

The heartbeats singing way out loud.

No one there to say good-bye,

The day I walk away.

 

We gave it one hell of a fight.

Had the time of our lives.

When I look back, that’s all I want to say.

The day I walk away.

 

I want you to know I did my best

No hard feelings, no regrets.

I want you to know I’ll be all right,

Gonna hold my head up high.

I want you to know I did it all

For the love of the game.

The day I walk away.

The day I walk away.

 

We come to times in our lives,

When we see all the good we’ve had.

Love the way we laughed a lot,

Having more good memories than bad.

 

I say good-bye to you my friend.

I’m sure I’ll see you once again.

Somewhere on the other side one day,

The day I walk away.

Somewhere on the other side one day,

The day I walk away.

 

I want you to know I did my best,

No hard feelings, no regrets.

I want you to know I’ll be all right,

Gonna hold my head up high.

I want you to know I did it all

For the love of the game.

The day I walk away.

The day I walk away.

The day I walk away.

“A lot of people think it’s just about TCU,” Patterson said. “It’s not really. The chorus is about anybody — maybe going through a breakup — it can be a lot of things to a lot of people. A breakup, get fired, retire — whatever it is — when your life changes course and what you want to say. That’s what the chorus is about.

“The first two verses before the chorus are little bit about just stepping away from football at TCU. Then, the second, third and fourth verses — when it talks about the suffocation of the crowd, that’s about the Rose Bowl, and the final verse is about ‘We’ll see you again some day’ — like we all will when our days here are done.”

Patterson has written and released two other songs — "Take A Step Back" and "Game On" — both in 2020 about life during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I didn’t have a press conference (after being let go at TCU), because I knew I wanted to put my words in a song,” Patterson said.

“You can’t really ever say all you want at a podium. A song is a lot easier to be able to tell people all that kind of stuff. And the verses are saying, ‘Hey, I know it didn’t work, but I’m good.’ The song doesn’t say ‘walked.’ It says, ‘The day I walk away,’ which means I’m not done, which is why I’m here in Austin.”

On coaching trips sponsored by Nike over the years, Patterson and former UCLA, Washington and Colorado head coach Rick Neuheisel gained a reputation for grabbing their guitars and providing musical entertainment.

“GP (Patterson) is solid gold!” Neuheisel said. “He can play any country and western song known to man, and he is real! The Longhorns are lucky to have him!”

At Texas, Patterson is reunited with Del Conte, whom he appreciates and admires.

“I think he’s a players’ AD (athletic director),” Patterson said of Del Conte. “I think he works hard. He’s a great fund-raiser. He’s good with kids. He’s good with people. He gives coaches what they need to be successful. That’s what he did at TCU, and that’s what he’s done here for Sark.”

Patterson said Del Conte also spends time with his coaches — at practices and meetings — not just showing up to games.

“Good guy. I really like him,” Patterson said. “He cares about people, and he understands coaches. He actually, really pays attention. Everyone always said I was loud. Well, he would come out and listen to me teach and came to walkthroughs and game planning. I appreciated all those things. You can’t ask for more as a coach or an assistant if your athletic director is doing enough to give you a 50-50 chance. That’s all you want.”

Patterson is also reunited with Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Jeff Choate — both of whom Patterson faced in the Mountain West (when Kwiatkowski and Choate were at Boise State).

“Good guys. Good coaches,” Patterson said.

When you ask Patterson a question about how Texas players are looking or progressing, the most he says is:

“I don’t know if anyone thinks they’re roster is everything they want it to be. But we have some good players, and I think we have good kids. That’s for Sark to talk about, though.

“I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to come down and learn some of the stuff that I’ve learned and to be a part of it and help out wherever I can, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep doing that.”

Patterson does feel like he can help Sarkisian.

"Anyone who has been the boss before as a head coach, they’re a better soldier," Patterson said. "They’re a better assistant coach, because they know what a good one looks like and what a bad one looks like.

"Me, I’m trying to be a great soldier in doing what’s needed to help us move forward."

But what about coaching again?

After he was let go by TCU, Patterson said, “There were probably five Power Five schools who were interested in me being defensive coordinator, including a couple major ones.

“But I didn’t think in December my mind was right to just jump back in and be the defensive coordinator at a Top 10 program. I’m closer to being like that now, because it’s been a lot of fun being here (at Texas) working with Sark and everybody.

“For me to get back in, the one thing that’s alluded me in my career is playing for a national championship. If I ever got back, that would be something that would pique my interest. Right now, I haven’t really thought about it, because I’m really focused on trying to help Texas win a whole lot more games than what we did a year ago.”

Patterson also thinks about the College Football Hall of Fame, where he hopes to end up one day.

“You have to be out of coaching for five years to have an opportunity to be in the College (Football) Hall of Fame,” Patterson said. “So, if I go back to being a head coach, I’d have to think hard about that. Now, whether or not I could get in, I don’t know. But that’s one of my goals that I’ve always thought about and wanted to achieve.”

But right now, he said, one of the best parts of his Texas job is he doesn’t have to make all the big decisions.

“I kind of like knowing that not everything starts and stops with me when I wake up in the morning,” Patterson said. “I like it when I walk out of a staff meeting and go, ‘Well, I hope Sark gets that problem solved,’ and I go back to my office. For the last 20-something years, I was the guy who had to solve the problem.

“To be honest with you, I haven’t really thought about any other job. Right now, my whole focus is on helping Texas get better. I think there are coaches who went through what I did and they’d be thinking about how do they get to the next place. I’m not that guy right now. Right now, I’m about how do I make Texas — for whatever I’m asked to do — how do I make Texas better?

“That can’t be too far from being believable. I’m the guy who stayed at one place 24 — almost 25 years.”

 

[Blotto 23490]

Just say it Gary. You want to be HC at Texas. Shit, I want you to be HC at Texas. We probably still lose 5-7 games a year, but at least our coach could release heartfelt ballads like "Sooners Can Suck My Cock and Balls" 

[Horn Dog 9816]

"When you ask Patterson a question about how Texas players are looking or progressing, the most he says is:

“I don’t know if anyone thinks they’re roster is everything they want it to be. But we have some good players, and I think we have good kids.

 

[Dbeasy 15042]

Just remember that Patterson’s ultimate agenda is probably to sponge off Sark for offense ideas, then go take a head coach role at whatever Texas based program wants him next. 

[WinningIsHard 4027]

On 5/30/2022 at 4:46 PM, LTtxfan said:

HaHaHaHa 😋

Gary Patterson spoke highly of Steve Sarkisian in a recent interview

May 28, 2022 

In what could be one of the most important offseason additions, the Longhorns were able to add former TCU head coach Gary Patterson to their staff.

The defensive guru was hired as the special assistant to the head coach, and is expected to assist Texas on the defensive side of the ball, an area they struggled mightily on last season.

During various brief encounters, Patterson has expressed how thrilled he is with the new gig and how much he admires Steve Sarkisian’s work ethic and the energy he brings.

Patterson recently spoke with ESPN Central Texas host Matt Mosley in his first extended interview and discussed Sarkisian and how complimentary the rest of the staff is.

"Sark fires me up. He really does, recruiting-wise, all of it. He gets after it. The staff we have down to the support people, everybody we have, all the way down to (athletic director Chris) Del Conte. He gives you what you want, want you need to be successful. So, we need to be successful."

Patterson is one of the more accomplished head coaches in modern college football history after he was able to lead the Horned Frogs to a 181-79 record in 22 seasons prior to parting ways.

I was told by some very smart people, way smarter than me, that our support staff was not up to par and we would struggle because of it. Patterson must be a fucking liar. Lol 

[LTtxfan 49144]

4 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Just remember that Patterson’s ultimate agenda is probably to sponge off Sark/Banks for offense/special team ideas, then go take a head coach role at whatever Texas based program wants him next. 

FIFY 

[markstanco 12571]

Just remember that Patterson’s ultimate agenda is probably to sponge off Sark for offense ideas, then go take a head coach role at whatever Texas based program wants him next. 

If that was his agenda he would have sat in the booth at alabama for 2 years. He came to texas because he was pissed at tcu for canning him.

[Revolution512 1487]

It’s ok Gary, we know the defensive roster is hammered shit

[LTtxfan 49144]

Thx for finding this tweet @Big Woodrows

 

Gary Patterson explains why he parks in the back of the parking lot at Texas  

After a 21-year, statue-worthy run at TCU, the future College Football Hall of Fame coach is embracing being at the bottom of Steve Sarkisian's org chart.

ZACH BARNETT        JUN 1, 2022

Quote

The noted philosopher Ferris Bueller once taught us all that life moves pretty fast, and it's hard to think of an example of life moving faster than Gary Patterson using the pronoun "we" in reference to the Texas Longhorns preparing to move to the SEC. 

To reduce the vertigo anyone who just emerged from an 11-month coma is experiencing right now, let's back up a bit. 

After 21 seasons leading the program, Gary Patterson stepped away as TCU's head coach on Halloween. Patterson's inevitable departure was always going to be a delicate dance considering everyone involved with TCU football walks past his statue on their way to work each morning but, from the outside, his exit seemed awkward even by those standards. At 3-5 and four seasons removed from their last 10-win season, one could see why TCU and Patterson thought the time was right for a divorce. 

Except they didn't really divorce. Or, they did divorce but continued living together until the lease ran out.

Patterson announced his resignation on a Sunday, then showed up to work the following Monday. And continued showing up. It begged the question: if Patterson was going to continue game-planning through the end of the season... why not just let him finish out the year and take a well-deserved victory lap? Why the rush to remove him from the sidelines if he was going to stick around anyway? 

In an interview with ESPN Central Texas, Patterson explained that their unusual arrangement was: A) his idea, and B) beneficial to his assistants' impending job hunts and his own well-being. 

"I made the decision, not so much for Gary Patterson but for TCU. They needed to go out and find a coach, which they started looking. The staff, Jerry Kill, he became the interim head coach, because of his health he needed to show he could still be a really good head coach, and he got a head coaching job out of it. My staff, especially my defensive staff because I've always called it, if they were going to go get other jobs, then what they needed to be able to do is to do it themselves," Patterson said. 

"I went in on Sundays and Mondays, watched Tuesdays, watched the walk-throughs, and then I went home. I helped on Wednesday morning, and then I went home. I felt like for TCU's sake, for the recruits and everybody else, that (it was important) everyone knew where they stood. All of that helped me understand my place and what I needed to do. I was in a better place by the time it got to December, and I don't think I would've been there had I stayed there."

Patterson happily reported that each of his assistants, even down to GAs and equipment staff, have each found jobs elsewhere. Patterson also received job offers, which should come as no surprise given he was easily the most accomplished program builder, defensive coach, and talent evaluator on the market at that time. 

Patterson turned them down, feeling he wasn't ready to jump immediately into the commitment of a full-time, on-the-field job just yet, and that he wasn't ready to leave Fort Worth. He did, however, want to remain in the game and remain in Fort Worth at least part-time, and so he took a job at Texas as the special assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Jarring as it was for the rest of us to see Patterson trade his trademark purple-and-black for burnt orange-and-white, the transition made sense to him. Though Texas was his north star and later his target in dragging TCU from Conference USA to the Big 12 -- at one point winning seven of eight from 2014-20, including a devastatingly dismissive, "We've beaten better with less" comment in a pre-game TV interview before a 50-7 win in 2015 -- Texas was not his mortal enemy. (That was Baylor. Kidding. Kinda.) 

In fact, Patterson's wife, Kelsey, graduated from Texas. Texas AD Chris Del Conte is a friend, dating back to their TCU days. So is former Texas AD DeLoss Dodds, whose blessing was required for TCU to even get into the Big 12. A large part of the strategy TCU used to build itself into an athletics department that would be attractive to the Big 12 was to recruit the Fort Worth elite whose first allegiance may have been to Texas, Oklahoma or A&M. 

"There were Longhorns that helped us build our facility here in Fort Worth," Patterson said. "I have a lot of friends that are Longhorns. It was about two and a half hours away, where I could keep my house in Fort Worth and go back and forth."

Beyond his ties to Texas, his desire to remain in the game, and his desire to remain in the game while staying at his Fort Worth home at least part-time, there's one reason why Patterson now wears a burnt orange polo to work: "I really like Sark. He works his tail off."

"Sark fires me up. He really does," he said at another point. "He gets after it. The staff we have, all the way down to Mr. Del Conte, he gives you what you need to be successful, and so we need to go be successful."

Patterson easily could have found a place in Nick Saban's Finishing School for Once and Future Head Coaches had he so desired, but instead he chose to help Steve Sarkisian start his own satellite campus in Austin. 

As a future Hall of Fame head coach who could easily be a head coach or a Power 5 coordinator elsewhere, Patterson is at a place where he can afford -- monetarily and personally -- to embrace the grunt work. The 2022 season marks the first time in his adult life he's not either climbing the professional ladder or efforting to remain on top, and the first time since 1996 he's not responsible for designing and calling a defense.

In joining a defensive staff that ranked 99th in scoring and 102nd in yards per play in their first year together, Patterson essentially walked into a no-lose situation. If the defense improves, people will point to his presence as the obvious difference. If it doesn't, those same people will clamor to throw coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski under the bus and let him steer. 

But Patterson says embracing the opportunity to make suggestions, not decisions. His choice of parking spot is symbolic for his place on Sarkisian's org chart. 

"One of the things I wanted to make sure I did with Sark and the defensive staff, I didn't want to overstep my bounds. One of the things about being a head coach, when you're not a head coach you know how to be a great assistant. I know how to be a soldier. I've just been kind of feeling my way in, finding the things I can help with. Whatever Sark wants me to do, I've been trying to do. It's been fun," he said.

"When we park in the parking lot, I park as far back in the parking lot as I can, where everybody understands (what I'm there to do.) Like I said before, I'm just trying to help."

Asked point-blank if he'd like to head coach again, Patterson gave a point-blank answer: "I don't know."

"When you have an opportunity like Bob Stoops did, when you stay out of that head coaching thing, after five years you can be nominated into the College Football Hall of Fame. That's something that's one of my goals. The one thing I do know I want to do is, I want to stay involved in college football. It's a great game. In some areas we're not going in the right directions, so I want to be able to maybe right that ship. Those are things that I pay attention to and have been helping from a distance. I want to help these young head coaches manage kids... Forever's a long time, so I don't know. 

"Right now I'm a Longhorn, so I'm going to help the Longhorns win as many ball games as I can."

 

Lutz on the parking space story...  💩

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by LTtxfan
typo

[Lhorn 4911]

I feel like he’s being pretty generous in how much he’s learning from the rest of the staff.  I know he’s talking about the offensive guys and it’s clear that he respects Sark in that respect, but I feel like he’s the most capable guy on the whole staff and it’s not even close. 

[Royale with cheese 1466]

8 hours ago, Lhorn said:

I feel like he’s being pretty generous in how much he’s learning from the rest of the staff.  I know he’s talking about the offensive guys and it’s clear that he respects Sark in that respect, but I feel like he’s the most capable guy on the whole staff and it’s not even close. 

HCIW

[Longboard Horn 40296]

On 4/27/2022 at 9:29 PM, Eskimohorn said:

we’re gonna go 4-8, arent we?

No because we don't have Casey Pachall. 

[Pig Bellmont 8712]

On 6/1/2022 at 7:44 PM, Tex Long said:

While we are all throwing shit in Kwitkowski's direction, I need to qualify my flinging somewhat. I am having a really hard time believing PK is as worthless as that first season makes him appear. Right this instant, I'm willing to give him a couple of games to let him show us he understands his role here

My patience for PK evaporated after Kansas came into DKR with a 3rd string QB and walk ons and scored like 49 points (1 TD was a pick 6 if I remember right). Arkansas- fine. The collapse against OU - I hated watching it but fine. Kansas? I can’t believe no one got fired for that bullshit. 

[Zeus 6014]

11 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Thx for finding this tweet @Big Woodrows

 

Gary Patterson explains why he parks in the back of the parking lot at Texas  

After a 21-year, statue-worthy run at TCU, the future College Football Hall of Fame coach is embracing being at the bottom of Steve Sarkisian's org chart.

ZACH BARNETT        JUN 1, 2022

 

Lutz on the parking space story...  💩

 

 

Is he going to break his hand punching his car when some bum breaks into it? Wasn't that BJ Foster that did that or Overshown?

[LTtxfan 49144]

"Forward Thinker"  ???

[Longboard Horn 40296]

As long as our defense improves.

[LTtxfan 49144]

 

[LTtxfan 49144]

 

[LTtxfan 49144]

IT Today: Gary Patterson and the value of analysts

Joe Cook•07/19/22

(Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire)

Welcome to Inside Texas Today! On weekdays, Inside Texas Today will provide the latest on Texas Longhorns sports from around the Forty Acres. This morning, what Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said about Gary Patterson and the value of analysts in a program.

Here’s the Tuesday, July 19, 2022 edition.

Sonny Dykes was fired by Cal on January 8, 2017 following his fourth season in Berkeley. Needing a job, he sought a role closer to home in Texas and found one at TCU under former Horned Frog head coach Gary Patterson.

Dykes spent the 2017 season with TCU, one that saw the Horned Frogs compete for the Big 12 championship and win 11 games. After the regular season was completed, Dykes took the SMU head coaching job left vacant by Chad Morris.

The experience as an analyst was a new one for Dykes considering he had been a part of the head coaching ranks dating back to 2010. The step back after Cal let him go helped him eventually move forward in his career.

“I had a chance to go work with Coach Patterson, and really what I wanted to do was go someplace that had had a tradition of playing great defensive football and wanted to see what his approach was,” Dykes said at Big 12 Media Days. “I was fortunate enough to get hired on with Coach Patterson in 2017, was part of a great team. It was an 11-3 team that year that played in the Big 12 Championship game, and just learned a ton.”

What value does Dykes believe analysts offer?

“I think analysts in a lot of ways provide perspective,” Dykes said. “When you look around, you look at a lot of the analysts that have gone to Alabama through the years, a lot of those guys are former head coaches, and they go and they have a chance to learn from Nick Saban and they have a chance to probably get their confidence back in a lot of ways. Because there’s a lot of good football coaches that go places and aren’t successful for a variety of reasons, and those guys are outstanding coaches. Sometimes it’s not the right fit, sometimes it’s not the right circumstance. So those guys can go and learn.”

One such analyst who had the chance to learn from Saban? Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. The Longhorns’ second-year coach often credits Saban for helping resurrect his career. While Sarkisian was able to take the Texas job due to his exploits as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator, he first joined the Alabama program in 2016 after his dismissal from USC.

Texas doesn’t have a bunch of former head coaches and coordinators in the analyst room like Alabama does, but they do have one special assistant to the head coach that drew a lot of attention at Big 12 Media Days in Patterson.

Patterson, a defensive-minded coach who received assistance from the offensive-minded Dykes in 2017, now helps the offensive-minded Sarkisian in the Texas program. His help isn’t limited to just one area. Patterson helps across the board.

“I don’t know if there’s just one specific thing,” Sarkisian said. “I think sometimes with a guy like Gary, who gameplanned against me last year, one of the biggest things I’ve learned is just how he looked at our offense and what he would do to try to stop us. He’s a big picture thinker, and that helps me say ‘well, we’ve got to make sure we are checking off these boxes so people can’t say we’re one dimensional when we do this or when we do that.'”

Even Texas EDGE Ovie Oghoufo has reaped the benefits of having Patterson in Austin.

“Wonderful defensive coach,” Oghoufo said at Big 12 Media Days. “I wasn’t really familiar with him before he got here, and I’m learning the benefits that he’s had, the little tricks, the little things he teaches us, the little techniques, the little drills he has us doing. He just comes in, drops his knowledge, and moves on to the next position group. It’s amazing. It works.”

All three of Dykes, Patterson, and Sarkisian know what analysts offer to a program. Sarkisian’s program in Austin is now a beneficiary of Patterson working on the Forty Acres as an analyst.

[LTtxfan 49144]

 

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20392]

Every day I hate Patterson a little bit fewer.

[Tex Long 4383]

4 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Every day I hate Patterson a little bit fewer.

Fewer? I think you mean "lessly".

[1leggedduck 443]

Not so mucho

[TrashMaster G 17547]

Patterson looks like he's dropped a lot of lbs.

[CowtownHorn 5126]

5 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Every day I hate Patterson a little bit fewer.

I’ve met him before and he’s a pretty damn nice guy. My wife went to high school with his wife Kelsey here in Fort Worth. She’s also very nice and she’s a UT graduate. Will be interesting to see how his time at Texas plays out. It’s hard not to admire what he accomplished at TCU. I wish we could have had him about 10 years ago, post Mack.