Gary Allen Patterson (born February 13, 1960) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player. He is currently the special assistant to the head coach at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. He is the former head football coach at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Discipl ...

and the coach with the most wins in Horned Frogs' history. Patterson led the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

to six conference championships—one

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

title in 2002; four

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

titles in 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011; —and eleven

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

victories—including victories in the 2011 Rose Bowl and

2014 Peach Bowl The 2014 Peach Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2014, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.2010 squad finished the season undefeated at 13–0 after a 21–19 Rose Bowl victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on New Year's Day 2011, and ranked second in the final tallying of both major polls.

Early life, playing career, education, and family

Patterson grew up in

Rozel, Kansas Rozel is a city in Pawnee County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 102. History The first post office in Rozel was established in 1893. The community was named in honor of Roseila, the daughter of a ...

and played football at

Dodge City Community College Dodge City Community College (DC3, DCCC) is a public community college in Dodge City, Kansas, United States. History Campus Founded in 1935, Dodge City Community College was located on the third floor of the Senior High School Building at 16 ...

and at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

. Patterson is married to Kelsey Patterson (née Hayes). He has three sons: Josh, Cade, and Blake. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1983 from Kansas State University, where he became a member of the

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus nam ...

fraternity. While coaching at Tennessee Tech, he earned a master's degree in educational administration in 1984. Outside of coaching, Patterson plays guitar and performs at charity events around the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the off-season.

Coaching career

Early years

Patterson began his coaching career in 1982 at

as an assistant to head coach

Jim Dickey James Dickey (March 22, 1934 – February 17, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1978 to 1985, compiling record of 24–54–2. In 1981, he redshirted 18 players, ...

. After subsequently serving a number of years as an assistant coach at a number of different schools, Patterson was hired by

Dennis Franchione Dennis Wayne Franchione (born March 28, 1951), also known as Coach Fran, is a retired American football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school w ...

as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

in 1996. He had previously served as a

linebackers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

at Tennessee Tech (1983-1984) where Franchione was the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach r ...

and in the same capacity on Franchione's

Pittsburg State University Pittsburg State University (Pitt State or PSU) is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students (6,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students) and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. History ...

staff in 1988, as well as playing on the

1980 Kansas State Wildcats football team The 1980 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football coach was Jim Dickey. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. 1980 was the ...

when Franchione was an assistant on the coaching staff. He followed Franchione to

(TCU) in 1998, serving as the defensive coordinator there, as well. Patterson was a 2000 finalist for the

Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...

, given annually to the nation's top college football assistant coach. He was named head coach at TCU prior to the Mobile Alabama Bowl in December 2000 after Franchione left to become the head coach at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...

. Patterson remains friends with

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

head coach

Jerry Kill Gerald R. Kill (born August 24, 1961) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at New Mexico State University. He played college football at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas from 1979 to 1982. Kill served as the head ...

from their time as coaches on Franchione's Pittsburg State staff. Kill served as the

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

during Patterson's wedding to wife Kelsey in 2004.

Head coach at TCU

Patterson won his 110th game at TCU with a 56–0 victory over Grambling, passing

Dutch Meyer Leo Robert "Dutch" Meyer (January 15, 1898 – December 3, 1982) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1934 to 1952, compiling a record ...

as the winningest coach in program history. His teams won 10 games or more in a season eleven times. Only three times have they failed to reach a bowl, in 2004, 2013, and 2019. Under Patterson, the Horned Frogs earned a spot in the year-end top 25 ten times, counting his partial season as head coach in 2000. In 2005, Patterson led the Frogs to the

championship in their first season as a member. Over the course of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, the Frogs won four consecutive games against

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

opponents, with three of the victories coming on the road. He tandem jumped with the Army Golden Knights prior to the 2005 TCU vs. Army football game, crossing skydiving off his bucket list. Patterson was named the 2005 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. In January 2007, Patterson turned down a head coaching offer from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

worth over $2 million per year. Patterson led the 2009 Horned Frogs to a perfect 12–0 regular season record, a Mountain West Conference championship, a No. 4 final BCS ranking, and an invitation to the

2010 Fiesta Bowl The 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the #4 TCU Horned Frogs, champions of the Mountain West Conference, and the #6 Boise State Broncos, champions of the Western Athletic Conference. The game ...

—their first major bowl appearance in 51 years. They ultimately lost 17–10 to undefeated No. 6

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a pub ...

. The 2009 Horned Frogs became the second "

BCS Buster The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includi ...

" from the Mountain West Conference (and the fourth, overall). For much of the season, they were a contender for the

2010 BCS National Championship Game The 2010 Citi BCS National Championship Game was a college football bowl game to determine the national champion of the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was played between the Texas Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was ...

. However, any chance of the Horned Frogs playing for the national championship ended on the final day of the season, when

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

defeated Pitt. This assured that two teams from Automatic Qualifying conferences would finish the regular season undefeated (whoever won the

2009 SEC Championship Game The 2009 SEC Championship Game was played on December 5, 2009, in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, to determine the 2009 football champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game featured the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson T ...

would have also finished undefeated). Patterson was named the 2009 AP Coach of the Year, becoming the first head coach of a BCS non-AQ conference team to win the award. He won a total of seven national "Coach of the Year" awards in 2009 in addition to being named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year for the second time (his third conference "Coach of the Year" award, overall). The following year, Patterson led the 2010 Horned Frogs to a second consecutive undefeated regular season and a No. 3 final BCS ranking. TCU received the first Rose Bowl invitation offered to a team from a non-automatic qualifying conference during the BCS era. The Horned Frogs won the 2011 Rose Bowl, 21–19, over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to cap off only the second undefeated and untied season in school history. When TCU entered the Big 12 Conference in 2012, Patterson was faced with 7-6 2012 and 4-8 2013 seasons, but turned it around and led the Horned Frogs to their first Big 12 title in 2014, going 11-1, finishing in the top 5 of polls, with impressive wins over No. 4 Oklahoma, Minnesota, No. 7 Kansas State and scoring 82 points behind a 31-point third quarter against Texas Tech. The

2014 TCU Horned Frogs football team The 2014 TCU Horned Frogs football team represented Texas Christian University (TCU) in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Playing as a member of the Big 12 Conference (Big 12), the team was led by head coach Gary Patterson, in his 14 ...

shared a conference title with Baylor and were ranked No. 6 by the inaugural

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

selection committee. Patterson once again won several national "Coach of the Year" honors for turning the team around after the 2013 season. He was also named the Big 12 Chuck Neinas Coach of the Year, his 4th such award in a 3 different conferences, all earned while at TCU. In August 2016, TCU announced Patterson's contract had been extended through 2022, with an annual base salary of $4.75 million. The Frogs went 6-7 (4-5) in 2016 losing 31-23 to Georgia in the Liberty Bowl. In 2017, TCU opened with a 63-0 victory Jackson State. They defeated Arkansas 28-7 in Week 2. In Week 3, the No. 20 Frogs beat SMU in the Iron Skillet Rivalry 56-36. In week 4, the No. 16 Frogs upset No. 6 Oklahoma State 44-31 behind a 31 carry 160 yard 3 touchdown performance from halfback Darius Anderson. Next, the No. 9 Frogs won 31-24 over No. 23 West Virginia in a game in which quarterback Kenny Hill had a passing, rushing, and receiving touchdown. No. 6 TCU then won 26-6 over Kansas State and moved up to No. 4 with a 6-0 start. They shutout Kansas 43-0 to move to 7-0 and lead the Big 12. However, in Week 8 they lost 14-7 to No. 25 Iowa State dropping to No. 8. They beat Texas the next week 24-7 moving up to No. 6, but they lost 38-20 to No. 5 Oklahoma. TCU bounced back by beating Texas Tech 27-3 in which Kenny Hill didn't play. In Week 13, the No. 12 Frogs beat Baylor 45-22 to finish 10-2. They made the Big 12 Title Game as No. 11 but lost 41-17 to No. 3 Oklahoma. They dropped to No. 13 and were selected to the Alamo Bowl against No. 15 Stanford. TCU beat Stanford 39-37 to win the Alamo Bowl. Patterson began the 2021 season 3–5 and was fired on October 31, 2021. At the time of his departure, he was the second longest tenured coach in the FBS, only behind Iowa's

Kirk Ferentz Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the current head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the ...

Charitable work

Gary Patterson Foundation

Gary and Kelsey Patterson are dedicated to supporting children in and around Fort Worth through The Gary Patterson Foundation. Gary serves as the chairman, and Kelsey serves as the secretary/treasurer and manages the daily operations. Through grants, scholarships and collaboration with other area non-profit organizations, the foundation’s primary goal is to provide equitable educational opportunities for all children. In December 2018, The Gary Patterson Foundation donated $325,000 to 38 Fort Worth ISD elementary schools to upgrade the schools' libraries. Gary and Kelsey Patterson were subsequently awarded the 2019 Texas Library Association Benefactor Award.

Head coaching record

References

External links

TCU profile

Gary Patterson Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Gary 1960 births Living people American football linebackers American football safeties Cal Lutheran Kingsmen football coaches Dodge City Conquistadors football players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football players Navy Midshipmen football coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches Pittsburg State Gorillas football coaches Sonoma State Cossacks football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches UC Davis Aggies football coaches Utah State Aggies football coaches People from Pawnee County, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas