Legendary former TCU head coach Gary Patterson has joined Dave Aranda’s Baylor employees as a senior-level strategic marketing consultant, a number of college sources confirmed to The Athletic.
Patterson, 63, spent 25 years with the Horned Frogs, a chief Baylor rival, together with 22 as their head coach, going 181-79 till he was fired in 2021 after a string of underwhelming seasons. This can be Patterson’s second off-field teaching gig since his departure from TCU. He was on Texas’ employees as a particular assistant to Steve Sarkisian in 2022.
SicEm365.com first reported Patterson’s addition to the Baylor employees.
Why Patterson’s addition is smart for Baylor
Aranda, who enters his fifth yr at Baylor squarely on the recent seat after two consecutive dropping seasons, has made vital program and employees adjustments this offseason. He introduced in coordinator Jake Spavital to run the offense, and Aranda himself will name the Baylor protection for the primary time since he arrived in Waco.
To accommodate Aranda’s shifting duties, a part of his plan was so as to add head teaching expertise to the employees to help with among the duties that he would have assumed when he wasn’t so concerned in defensive sport planning and play calling. Spavital, previously the pinnacle coach at Texas State, brings a few of that, however Patterson brings greater than 20 years’ price, together with 10 seasons as a head coach within the Huge 12.
Whereas at Texas, Patterson served as a sounding board for Sarkisian and his employees, provided his observations about this system and lent his schematic experience. Patterson appears more likely to carry comparable perspective to Aranda and the Baylor employees.
Why this transfer is smart for Patterson
After spending 2022 at Texas, Patterson took time away from the game however confirmed curiosity in returning to school soccer in 2023. A college supply instructed The Athletic that he was near becoming a member of Houston’s employees as a marketing consultant in the course of the Cougars’ season, however the deal by no means materialized. Patterson had curiosity in changing into a head coach late in 2023 and was thought of a possible candidate for the Houston opening after Dana Holgorsen was fired, however he didn’t interview for the job.
Patterson clearly desires to stay concerned within the sport. In November he instructed ESPN 1660 AM in Waco that “I nonetheless have loads of ballgames left in me.” If he desires to be a head coach once more, it is smart to be working someplace, particularly with how quickly the game has modified since he was at TCU.
Including intrigue to this transfer is the heated nature of the Baylor-TCU rivalry, notably when Patterson was at TCU and former Baylor coach Artwork Briles was in Waco. The 2 weren’t keen on one another. Notably, Artwork’s son Kendal Briles is the offensive coordinator at TCU.
(Photograph: Ron Jenkins / Getty Photographs)
