A year and a half ago, Gary Patterson was still the head coach at TCU, a role he had held since 2000. Now, he is watching his former team make an unlikely run to the national championship under his replacement.
TCU parted ways with Patterson after the Horned Frogs got off to a 3-6 start in 2021. His replacement, Sonny Dykes, has gone 13-1 in his first season and will play Georgia on Monday for the championship.
Patterson, now an assistant coach at Texas, has watched from afar as Dykes built a championship contender out of a team filled with many players and staffers he brought to Fort Worth. He admitted it was a bittersweet feeling, but he is unreservedly rooting for TCU and will attend the championship game.
“You put 24 years of your life into a place, you wouldn’t want something like that to fail,” Patterson told Ross Dellenger of SI. “If you’re sitting in my shoes, yes, it is probably bittersweet. But at the end of the day, it’s good to see them get where they need to.
“This Monday is for all those guys, for all the people who have been part of this whole journey for 25 years. Because of those times, we are here. This is for the state of Texas, TCU, Fort Worth and for getting left out [of the CFP] in 2014.”
Patterson had a similar message for his former team before the Big 12 Championship as well. One can hardly blame him for having mixed feelings, but he is being impressively magnanimous as he roots on his former employer.
