-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
TCU head coach Gary Patterson, a class act
Archive
Comments
Story
Texas Christian head coach Gary Patterson knows how to win bowl games, but even more he knows what it takes to get there. That’s why he has so much respect for Boise State.
Patterson has taken the Horned Frogs to 10 bowl games in his 11 year tenure at TCU, and has coached them to victories in their last three bowl games. All of this adding up to quite an impressive resume, except for one thing. An undefeated season and a BCS berth.
“BSU is what we’re trying to be, what we’re trying to get to,” Patterson said at Monday’s coach’s press conference at the Omni Hotel in San Diego. “They go undefeated, they win championships and they have some of the best coaches in the nation.”
After the Broncos defeated the Horned Frogs in the 2003 Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl, Patterson started to get curious as to why the Broncos played so well against his team.
When TCU had a by week the following season Patterson made a trip up to Boise to see what exactly was leading BSU to all of its recent success. What he ended up finding was just a reiteration of what he already knew.
A great coaching staff that knows how to get their players ready game in and game out, which explains three undefeated seasons in the last five years.
When asked if Boise State would be a good fit for the Mountain West Conference Patterson had this to say. “They would fit in very well, they are 12-0 against the Mountain West. The thing is, they’re going to win wherever they go, the kids buy into what they do, that explains their success not only in the Western Athletic Conference but against teams out of their conference as well.”
Now that Patterson has had time to coach against and get to know Boise State head coach Chris Petersen he not only considers him an acquaintance, but a friend as well.
“There are a lot of things that I can talk to coach Petersen about that I can’t even talk to my wife about because he understands what we’re all going through, and he knows what this business entails.”
Patterson respects the program that Boise State has built so much that he thinks without a doubt that Boise State should have been chosen to over Ohio State to play in a BCS bowl, but at the same time was happy that the Broncos were not chosen as the at-large bid because he is happy his team now gets to play a quality opponent in a great bowl game.
Though BSU does play in a weaker conference and plays a weaker schedule than most teams in college football, Patterson knows how hard it is to compete at such a high level every year, let alone being able to go undefeated. Something Patterson and the Horned Frogs have yet to accomplish.
“If anybody criticizes BSU for how they do things than they don’t deserve any Christmas presents,” Patterson said. “They do things the right way and they get things done."
Trent Lootens
