Longhorns Hiring Of Former TCU Coach Gary Patterson Is Official

The Longhorns have officially announced the addition one of the best defensive minds in college football to their staff

Matt Galatzan | Jan 21, 2022

AUSTIN -- After an up and down season on the field, the Texas Longhorns have been reshaping both their roster and their coaching staff, and have now possibly made the biggest addition yet.

On Tuesday night, former TCU head coach Gary Patterson was seen at the Longhorns men's basketball game vs. Kansas State in a suite alongside Horns athletic director Chris Del Conte -- decked out in burnt orange.

And now, according to a team spokesman, the Longhorns have made the hiring of Patterson official.

Patterson will assume the role of "special assistant to the head coach" under Steve Sarkisian. His job will not include any on-field coaching responsibilities, though he will be an integral part of the Longhorns strategy building going forward.

Per the job listing from the university, Patterson's responsibilities will be as follows:

Assist with special projects assigned by the Head Football Coach.
Assist with the overall practice and game-day preparation, statistical analysis, and video analysis of opposing teams.
Assist with self-scouting of offensive, defensive and special teams schemes.
Travel with coaching staff and team to provide statistical support.

Patterson's hiring comes shortly after he took a trip to the 40 Acres to meet with head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas staff.

It was the second time Patterson had met with the Longhorns, after a meeting with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski in December.

Gary Patterson — © Kevin Jairaj USA Today Sports

Gary Patterson and Steve Sarkisian — USA Today Sports

Patterson comes in to assist a program that ranked 100th in the nation in total defense, 99th in scoring defense, and 62nd in pass defense.

The Longhorns particularly struggled against the run, ranking 114th in rush defense, and giving up over 200 yards per game on the ground.

One of the top defensive minds of the last two decades in college football, Patterson left the Horned Frogs after spending the last 21 and a half seasons as the head coach.

“I've got, obviously, a great deal of respect for Gary,” Sarkisian said at his Early Signing Period press conference. “He’s done a fantastic job. Really built that program into what it is and to make it one of the more desirable jobs in the country."

"I know that he's trying to figure out in what capacity does he want to continue this profession. We have not made any determination on if we would want him here or if he would want to be here, but the reality of it is there's definitely a level of respect for the job that he's done at TCU.”

During that time in Fort Worth, Patterson amassed a 181-79 record and took TCU to 18 bowl games, going 12-6 in those games.

Patterson also took the Horned Frogs to three New Year's 6 Bowls, winning the 2010 Rose Bowl with an undefeated 13-0 record, as well as the 2014 Peach Bowl with a 12-1 record.

Patterson is 7-4 against the Longhorns all-time and has won six of the last eight in the series.

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Published Jan 21, 2022

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.