DeMarvion Overshown reveals the true impact Gary Patterson has had on Texas' defense

Texas Longhorns linebacker DeMarvion Overshown spoke to the media during Big 12 media days. They discussed everything from his boots to small-town Texas life. On this list of topics was new defensive coach Gary Patterson.

Patterson’s official title is special assistant to the head coach. His focus, naturally, has been on the defense. However, the capacity he’s been working in has remained unclear. DeMarvion Overshown was asked about this by Dusty Dvoracek.

“Just coaching us up on the little things,” DeMarvion Overshown said. “Now, Coach Patterson’s is able to like, if you’re able to get him one on one, just dial up the small things that you don’t really get to cover in the meetings. The on-field, like, ‘Ok, if you do this, you really don’t have to take these extra steps to make that play.’ So, him coming from his resume, anything you get from here, you’re gonna sit down and you’re gonna listen.”

DeMarvion Overshown is, of course, right. When Gary Patterson tells you something about your defensive play, it’s best to listen to him. Patterson is a certified defensive mad scientist. He made his career on getting the most out of his defenses at TCU.

Having Patterson on staff also makes things easier for defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. Now in his second season at Texas, having a coach like Patterson to pay attention to the little things frees him up to attack the big picture.

“So, the things that you know, we’re in the meeting room and the coach (Kwiatkowski) is like, there’s 12-13 of us in there,” DeMarvion Overshown explained how Kwiatkowski works with groups, while Patterson works with individuals. “So, he’s hitting everybody with the same subject.”

Texas hopes that Patterson will help the defense improve enough at doing the little things right that it makes a big difference in 2022.