James Edwin "Gravy" Patterson Jr., also known as Pat Patterson, (March 26, 1934 – October 11, 2007) was an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

coach. He served as the head baseball coach at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The 2020 population was 22,166. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex region and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Ruston is the prin ...

from 1968 to 1990, compiling a record of 741–462–2 record. Patterson produced 18 winning seasons in 23 years, and his teams won 40 or more games in five of those years. He was Southland Conference Coach of the Year seven times. In retirement, he often returned as an interim coach. Seven of Patterson's players, including

Mike Jeffcoat James Michael Jeffcoat (born August 3, 1959) is an American retired professional baseball manager, former head coach in college baseball, and former professional player. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1983 and 1994 for four dif ...

, Phil Hiatt, and

David Segui David Vincent Segui, (; born July 19, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman. Segui was born in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of former Major League baseball pitcher Diego Seguí. He played collegiate baseball for Louis ...

, reached the majors.

Education

Patterson was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

in Richland Parish in northeastern Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana Tech in 1958, playing football and baseball under legendary Bulldog coaches Joe Aillet and Berry Hinton. He earned four football letters and two baseball letters and went on to earn his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

("Ole Miss") in 1961.

Coaching career

He began his coaching career in 1958 at

Ouachita Parish High School Ouachita Parish High School is a public high school located an unincorporated area of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States, with a Monroe, Louisiana, Monroe postal address. The school is administered by the Ouachita Parish School Board and is ...

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

and took a job at C.E. Byrd High School in

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

in 1963 before he joined the Louisiana Tech athletic department in 1967 as an assistant football coach. Patterson would serve as both assistant football- and head baseball coach at Tech from 1968 to 1978 and as head baseball coach only until 1990. He subsequently oversaw one more football game, having served as interim coach in 1979, when the Bulldogs posted a 13-10 win over local rival

Northeast Louisiana University The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

, now known as the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

, in his only game as head coach. As head coach, Patterson was named the District VI Coach of the Year in 1974. He led Louisiana Tech to seven

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Tournament appearances during his coaching tenure, the last in 1987. In 1974, Patterson led the Bulldogs to within one game from the College World Series. Patterson served for several years as Tech's associate athletic director following his retirement in 1990. In that capacity, he oversaw the eligibility of athletes and monitored NCAA compliance. On three occasions, he was asked to step in as the university's interim athletic director. He is a member of the

Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame The Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1984 to honor student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and benefactors who have been highly successful at Louisiana Tech and who have distinguished themselves professionally. T ...

. A large poster of Patterson hangs on the outfield wall of Louisiana Tech's baseball stadium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Pat 1934 births 2007 suicides 2007 deaths Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball coaches Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football coaches Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players High school football coaches in Louisiana University of Mississippi alumni People from Delhi, Louisiana Coaches of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana Baseball coaches from Louisiana Baseball players from Louisiana 2007 murders in the United States Murder–suicides in Louisiana Suicides by firearm in Louisiana American United Methodists 20th-century Methodists 21st-century Methodists 20th-century American sportsmen