Gary Patterson Has Built an in-House Culture at TCU

ARLINGTON, Tx – Gary Patterson has had just about as much sustained success at TCU than anyone else at their respective programs. Since taking over TCU in 2000, Patterson has won 22 national coach of the year honors, and has recorded 178 wins, the most by an active head coach at his current school.

TCU has finished in the AP Top-10 six times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017), which ranks second nationally among active FBS head coaches.

A big part of that is something Oklahoma State fans are used to in Stillwater, a staff full of either former players or graduate assistants.

“I think it's probably as good a system as anybody could have in college football right now because I have guys in place behind the scenes that help do all the things we need to do,” said Gary Patterson. “And more than that, you know, especially in this day and age not only just with COVID and everything else but to have somebody else that can be a father figure, a guy that can sit down with kids, 125 of them at TCU and there's only one of me, and to have other guys that can actually sit down and help kids with their lives, with the NIL, everything else that's going on, how do you navigate, how do you navigate the world. Anytime anybody can have a guy with that kind of experience, almost like myself, 40 years in college football, the places he's been, it couldn't help be a plus. The rest of my staff, people don't understand, seven out of my 10 full-time coaches, since we've been there so long, started out as GAs or played for me, and then out of the other 20, 10 of them started as GAs and played and have been around the program. So, you don't have to teach the culture.”

Something that could help that continued success is the continued progression of quarterback Max Duggan, who carried the ball 116 times for a net of 526 yards and 10 touchdowns and completed 60% of his passes for 1,795 yards and 10 touchdowns.