Steve Sarkisian reveals how Gary Patterson could make impact

Steve Sarkisian and Texas football made a shocking hire this offseason, bringing in long-time rival and experience TCU head coach Gary Patterson as an off-field assistant. The second-year head coach explained why he believes the addition will give the Longhorns a leg up on other in-state schools and the rest of the country in multiple areas.

“Gary is a great sounding board for all of us and he provides – like I said – a wealth of experience and knowledge,” Sarkisian said during his National Signing Day press conference. “Also in state, he knows a lot of the high school coaches, he knows a lot of the people here. So I think it’s a win on all fronts and I think he and PK have really forged a great relationship in a short amount of time already.”

Steve Sarkisian on Gary Patterson

Steve Sarkisian hired Gary Patterson with the goal of improving what turned out to be a pedestrian defense in 2021. With Pete Kwiatkowski at defensive coordinator and the former TCU coach in the office, there are also more eyes on the improvement of the Longhorns.

“I’m sure you guys have known Gary over the years, I think sometimes tv paints a picture of what a guy’s perception is, and Gary’s a great guy,” said Sarkisian. “I think, really good around the office. I think he’s a really good team, staff guy. He’s got a great bit of energy about him, but he sees the game, and he sees the staff and the team through the lens of a head coach. And so I think a lot of times, when my focus is on specific things, I can trust what he sees and we can have that dialogue.”

He continued: “Like I know that guys have had for coach Saban, and you can have him watch specific things and be a sounding board of things to come back and look at. I think for PK it’s really the same thing, you’ve got a wealth of experience, you’ve got a guy who for 24 years was in Forth Worth coaching great defense. And he has seen a lot of offense and has seen a lot of offense in our conference. And he can be a great sounding board for him.

“I think the biggest thing that we’re getting too is, Gary is going to offer the advice and what he thinks we can, should do – whether it’s personnel, whether it’s scheme, whether it’s gameplan – ultimately we as a staff have to choose to say, ‘hey, this is what we’re gonna do, or we’re gonna go in this direction,’ and that’s ok.”