Chris Del Conte Reveals Why Longhorns Added Gary Patterson To Staff
Texas enters a pivotal year under Steve Sarkisian. When hired away from Alabama, the goal was to produce a "Crimson Tide type" culture in Austin before the Longhorns moved to the SEC.
A 5-7 season and six-game midseason losing streak wasn't perfect the answer. Maybe the addition of former TCU coach Gary Patterson will be the missing part of the equation.
Patterson comes to Texas after an illustrious career with the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth. The question is why did athletic director Chris Del Conte agree to bring in Patterson to begin with?
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Del Conte said that Sarkisian's experience working with Alabama's Nick Saban initially sparked the idea.
“It all came about because of Steve,” Del Conte with the On Texas Football podcast. “Two years ago, Nick Saban had 10 former head coaches on his staff. Ten. You look at Lane (Kiffin), Steve, the coach at Maryland (Mike Locksley), Charlie Strong, Mike Stoops. … Steve was very familiar with that. When Gary and TCU decided to part ways in mid-October, the phone rang.
“I rolled over to his office and he said, ‘Do you think there’s a chance that coach (Patterson) would come here?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, but I’ll put you two together.'”
Del Conte also spoke of his long-standing relationship with Patterson, stemming back to the 1980s when Patterson served on at UC Davis. He also stated that while the two had a working relationship, it was the bond between Patterson and Sarkisian made all feel comfortable in joining forces in 2022.
“It took a long time, from that initial, ‘I’m no longer the coach at TCU’ sting, … Steve was dealing with his own issues, and here comes Gary, and they have a conversation,” Del Conte said. “They just vetted each other out.
"I stayed out of it, because I didn’t want Gary or Steve or the fans to think I had anything to do with it. My job was just to add a little food coloring, a burnt orange drop into the mindset.”
Patterson went 181–79 in his 22 seasons with TCU. The two sides mutually agreed to part ways following a 3-5 start to the year last fall. The Horned Frogs will now be led by former SMU coach Sonny Dykes, who led the Mustangs to a 30-18 record in five seasons.
Patterson is set to roughly earn $150,000 next season as a special assistant to the head coach. The hope is he'll factor into the success of the defense after a lackluster showing in 2021.
Last season, the Longhorns finished eighth in total defense among all Big 12 teams. They finished eighth against the run, fifth against the pass and seventh in scoring, allowing an average of 31.1 points per game.
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“He’s got a great deal energy about him,” Sarkisian said of Patterson last month. “And 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."
Texas begins spring football practice on March 22. The Orange-White game is slated for April 23.