Patterson had nearly as good a run as any Big 12 coach in whipping Texas over the previous decade whereas nonetheless in purple. But he is now in burnt orange.
FORT WORTH, Texas — (AP) — Gary Patterson might now play a key position in spoiling what has been a perfect season thus far for fourth-ranked TCU.
After having nearly as good a run as any Big 12 coach in whipping Texas over the previous decade whereas nonetheless in purple, there’s that startling distinction of Patterson being in burnt orange and on the alternative side of the crew that he led to its final undefeated season.
Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson smiled and gave a “focus-on-us” reply concerning the Horned Frogs (9-0, 6-0 Big 12, No. 4 CFP) going through the previous coach. The standout senior cornerback then chuckled when requested about his preliminary response.
“I just smiled because, you know, you brought up coach Patterson,” Hodges-Tomlinson mentioned, nonetheless and not using a straight face.
Patterson is actually a focus for Saturday’s recreation, despite the fact that he’s in a non-coaching position as a particular assistant for Steve Sarkisian at No. 18 Texas (6-3, 4-2, No. 18 CFP) and may’t instantly work together with gamers.
One of the primary questions Sarkisian obtained requested this week was if Patterson was working greater than common to assist in opposition to the Frogs, who gained seven of the previous 10 within the collection with Patterson as their coach till simply greater than a 12 months in the past. TCU had gained solely seven of the 41 conferences earlier than that for the reason that mid-Nineteen Fifties.
“Gary works 24-7 to beat anybody,” Sarkisian mentioned with fun. “He’s obtained an unbelievable work ethic about him. He’s obtained quite a lot of self-discipline in his method into what he does and the way he does it.”
Sarkisian insisted nothing has been completely different this week for Patterson, who does advance scouting and shares his findings and ideas with the Longhorns defensive workers.
Patterson is the Frogs’ winningest coach with 181 victories over 21 seasons, after three years as their defensive coordinator. There is a statue on the Fort Worth campus of Patterson, whose tenure included a 13-0 season in 2010 that ended with a Rose Bowl victory and a No. 2 nationwide rating.
That was two years earlier than the Frogs joined the Big 12 from the Mountain West Conference, and the final time they’d began 9-0 — until now in Sonny Dykes’ first season.
Dykes was an offensive analyst at TCU in 2017, when he watched video games from the pressbox whereas in an identical advisory position for Patterson. Dykes then was SMU’s coach the previous 4 seasons earlier than returning to the opposite side of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
TCU’s success and the Patterson sideshow each actually performed into ESPN’s “College GameDay” choosing Austin to host its present for the second time this season — the primary was Alabama in Week 2. The present was additionally at Kansas 5 weeks in the past when TCU gained there.
But how Patterson will really impression the prime-time recreation remains to be a bit unsure.
“I don’t know what Gary’s role is there,” Dykes mentioned Tuesday. “It’s hard for me to evaluate that. I know Gary’s a very good coach. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I know he obviously knows our players. So I don’t know.”
Alan Ali, the senior middle who got here from SMU to TCU with Dykes, did not play for Patterson. But he obtained to play in opposition to him, and sees some similarities with what the coach did with the Frogs and what Texas is doing now.
“I think here and there. Definitely not the whole thing,” Ali mentioned. “But I can see a few of coach Patterson’s schemes he throws in there. … I’ve observed somewhat little bit of that on movie.”
Sarkisian typically does not let workers members communicate with the media, and Patterson has been comparatively quiet anyway since his departure from TCU was introduced on Halloween night time 2021, a day after the Frogs fell to 3-5. It was described then as a mutual resolution between him and the varsity.
Colorado switch security Mark Perry’s debut with TCU this 12 months got here within the season opener in opposition to the Buffaloes. So he has a way of what his teammates who performed for Patterson are going by means of this week.
“Obviously, that will be big for them going against their former coach,” Perry mentioned. “Just try to limit the distractions. It’s only a distraction if you let it be.”
Well, it might be fairly jarring to really see Patterson on the opposite sideline in burnt orange.
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