When the Horned Frogs get to Austin, they'll see former TCU head coach Gary Patterson in burnt orange

The head coach who led TCU for over 21 seasons, accumulating 181 wins, six conference titles, over 20 coach of the year honors, and 11 bowl victories will be on the Texas sidelines wearing burnt orange on Saturday night when the Longhorns host the Horned Frogs. Gary Patterson, currently serving as a special assistant to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, will face the program he made into a national contender and who erected a statue in his honor in Texas’ tussle with the top-five Frogs.

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“We’re lucky to have him on our team, I’ll say that,” Sarkisian said Monday. “I know he served 22 great years there at TCU. I think that program is in the place that it’s in because of the work that he did, and that should not go unnoticed. A lot of those kids on that roster he recruited, and it’s a very talented roster. But we’re lucky to have him on our team. I know he’s doing his normal deal, what he does throughout the week to help us get prepared.”

Patterson, who resigned from TCU in November of last season, joined the Longhorn program in the offseason as an analyst with his special assistant title. For Texas and TCU faithful alike, to see the veteran defensive-minded coach wearing the Longhorn logo was no doubt a shock.

Patterson spent years doing all he could to top Texas. It was a game he circled ahead of every season, and the victories were the ones he likely relished most. He was quoted as saying “we’ve beaten better with less” prior to doing just that in a 50-7 TCU win over Texas in 2015. That attitude often carried over to the recruiting trail, too.

Nowadays, Patterson’s responsibilities for the burnt orange side of things are a lot different. Since he’s an analyst and not an assistant and unable to directly coach players, Patterson is involved in advanced scouting of opponents and relays what he finds to the full-time staff.

“For me, he’s a great sounding board for me whether it’s about temperature on the team, thoughts about even the defense,” Sarkisian said. “I’m going into game planning an opponent and I’ll ask him about, what about this? What about that? Would this be difficult to defend or not? He’s a great sounding board. We’re really fortunate to have him.”

Patterson doesn’t wear a headset on gamedays, but Sarkisian mentioned he will seek Patterson’s input during the course of a contest. Patterson also offers encouragement on the sidelines, even if it isn’t of the technical sort.

Despite the limitations on his job due to NCAA rules, Patterson can still deliver messages, information, or otherwise to the full-time assistants to disseminate to the players. However, abiding by the rules in place does not mean he can’t have any interaction whatsoever with current Longhorns.

Sarkisian praised “Coach P” for something he viewed as being underrated about the former “Head Frog,” at least by people in Texas circles. He said Patterson has been team-first during his time in Austin and has built rapport with everyone in the Texas program.

“He always drops knowledge, drops a lot of wisdom on us,” Texas linebacker Ovie Oghoufo said Monday. “Having him for sure helps going into this game.”

Said defensive back Jahdae Barron: “I make sure I take it in and just know what he knows about the other players, that aspect.”

His advanced scouting efforts have been a key factor in Texas’ 6-3 record. They’ll again be critical this week as the Longhorns face Patterson’s former team. Much of what was left to current TCU head coach Sonny Dykes and his staff was brought to Fort Worth by Patterson. Whether it be quarterback Max Duggan, running back Kendre Miller, wide receiver Quentin Johnston, defensive back Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, or linebacker Dee Winters, the bulk of contributors for TCU bought into Patterson’s vision when making their college choices.

As a result, Patterson has a depth of knowledge of the entire TCU roster greater than any advanced scout could provide. A false step from certain players maybe visible on tape, but Patterson has the ability to tap into knowledge gained from personally trying to correct that false step in the previous season or seasons.

Dykes’ staff of course may have fixed those issues, but that doesn’t mean Patterson lacks information about the stars and bench-warmers heading to Austin clad in purple.

“He could just tell us how it is to play against the boys he coached for 20-something years,” defensive tackle Keondre Coburn said Monday.

As a member of Texas’ assistant or analyst staff, Patterson isn’t made available to the media. His role is more behind the scenes anyway, an adjustment for any former head coach. Plus, as his words after the Alabama game where he was praised by Texas fans show, he prefers the focus not be placed on him.

That’s difficult this week with the program that owes Patterson much of its current standing heading to Austin without him.

He’s on the Texas side of things now. Does he still have head coaching aspirations? Texas players didn’t know when questioned, but reports have surfaced in recent days that say Patterson might want to jump back into the saddle again.

Until something changes, he’ll continue to be a key part of Texas’ preparation for TCU and other opponents.

“I do think he enjoys his role and loves being part of the organization,” Sarkisian said.