Frogs Signs in a 32 Years Old Player With a Sum Of $900 million to Replace…
Gary Patterson, a former TCU coach, is a true legend among the Horned Frogs. He worked as the program’s defensive coordinator before taking over as head coach in 2000. Over the course of two decades, he guided them to an 181–79 record before leaving in the middle of 2021. For good reason, the school unveiled a statue of the coach in 2016.
He supported Steve Sarkisian as a special assistant in ’22 at Texas, an in-state and conference opponent. Although Patterson left football in 2023, his name kept coming up in relation to a couple positions as the coaching pendulum swung back and forth. According to numerous sources on Thursday, Patterson will provide off-field guidance to Baylor coach Dave Aranda this season.
TCU and Baylor have a fierce, long-running rivalry. Baylor and TCU are roughly 90 miles apart in Waco and Fort Worth, respectively. It peaked in 2014 when the Bears pulled off a stunning comeback to defeat the Horned Frogs in a shootout, 61–58. Both teams would go on to finish 11-1 (8-1 Big 12), while Ohio State, the eventual national champion, was notably rejected by the College Football Playoff. Additionally, Patterson had a tense relationship with Art Briles, the former coach of Baylor, whose son also happens to be a member of Sonny Dykes’s TCU staff.
Fans on both sides of the rivalry have extremely different opinions on all of these. However, one fan went too far by attaching Bears gear on Patterson’s statue on the TCU campus.
Despite an uncomfortable midseason breakup in 2021, SicEm365 points out that Patterson and Aranda had a previous relationship, so it’s unlikely that the former TCU coach would ever publicly enjoy the chance to defeat his former team. He did, however, share his thoughts about the program with Sports Illustrated during their unexpected run to the national championship game in 2022–2023; he described it as “bittersweet.”
Patterson remarked, “You wouldn’t want something like that to fail—you put 24 years of your life into a place.” Yes, it is undoubtedly bittersweet if you’re sitting in my position. Nevertheless, it’s encouraging to watch people ultimately reach their goals.
In addition to cheering on the Horned Frogs during that run, he also employed an intriguing metaphor for a divorce when discussing his choice to work at Texas.
“If you’ve gone through a divorce,” Patterson remarked, providing context for the change. “Are you interested in living in the same town as your former partner? I required some room. Many believed that my trip to Texas was motivated by resentment. Oh no, I went to study.
