Patterson: ‘Facts will come out’ on TCU player arrests
TCU coach Gary Patterson said defensive end Mike Tuaua, arrested Monday on robbery and assault charges, was suspended following the incident, but he defended the player to reporters.
“I’m just going to tell you something right now when it comes to Mike Tuaua,” Patterson said Tuesday, speaking at his weekly news conference. “I named him captain, but non-football, outside, in our community, with kids, he’s the most-liked kid we have on our team besides Trevone Boykin.”
Patterson said “facts will come out,” but did not elaborate on what he meant and how it relates to Tuaua or receiver Andre Petties-Wilson, also arrested Monday as a string of unexpected problems continues to beset the Horned Frogs.
In this kid’s case, Mike Tuaua, we’ll find out what the facts are. It’ll all come out. I just hope when they all come out, when it’s all done, I just hope you report just as strongly as what you want to do here. Because it’s not even close to what happened south of here.
TCU coach Gary Patterson
“I’m just telling you, as far as just a person, I’m not going to let you say this kid’s a bad person,” Patterson said. “If he made a mistake, he made a mistake. OK?”
Patterson said it’s important for players to know “you have their back.”
“My job is to protect the university. My job is to protect the football team. My job is to also be a father to my players,” Patterson said. “And if they screw up, they screw up. And in my time at TCU, 18 years, we’ve had a few of those. But not as many as others. But we’ve always handled it the same way.”
Tuaua, 22, and Wilson, 19, are accused of beating up fellow students and stealing their Keystone Light beer. They face charges of robbery with bodily injury, which is a second-degree felony. Bail for each was set at $15,000. They were released on bond from the Tarrant County Corrections Center on Monday night.
Patterson appeared to dismiss suggestions that the arrests of Tuaua and Petties-Wilson are on par with a player transfer controversy at Baylor.
“In this kid’s case, Mike Tuaua, we’ll find out what the facts are,” Patterson said. “It’ll all come out. I just hope when they all come out, when it’s all done, I just hope you report just as strongly as what you want to do here. Because it’s not even close to what happened south of here.”
Patterson continued: “So just understand, that’s all I’m going to say about it. You know as much as I do. You can read the police reports. I’ve listened to all kinds of people tell me their version of everything that goes on. I’ve heard the kid had multiple breaks in his legs and his arms, all of it. And that’s not what I read.”
Patterson said Tuaua had a ligament injury before the season began and played with it against Minnesota on Sept. 3. The incident involving him and Petties-Wilson happened the next night.
Tuaua can consider a medical redshirt, but Patterson said, “He’s got other things he’s got to deal with before we worry about all that stuff.”
Tuaua’s suspension makes him the eighth defensive starter now unavailable for Patterson since the start of the season. Linebacker Sammy Douglas, safety Kenny Iloka and cornerback Ranthony Texada are gone for the season with knee injuries. Defensive end James McFarland had toe surgery last week and is not expected back. Defensive tackle Davion Pierson is trying to recover from a concussion that has kept him out of all three games. Linebacker Mike Freeze was granted a personal leave after the first game, but Patterson is not optimistic about a return.
“I need to coach a football team,” Patterson said. “I’ve got a big game coming forward. My team’s ranked second and third in the nation. And I have a responsibility to the rest of those kids to work my tail off.”
Patterson said it’s time for the “process to go forward.”
“Am I happy with what happened? No,” he said. “You’ve dealt with me. You’ve seen my history. You’ve seen how all this has happened. You’ve seen how I’ve dealt with it. OK? There’s always two sides to the story. This is what I’ve learned in all of it, and all those facts will come out, and it’s been dealt with by the university, it’s been dealt with by our football team, it’s been dealt with by the authorities. So now we’ll let the process go forward, and I will play a football game with eight less defensive starters and go forward and try to go win a ballgame.”
Patterson indicated that he is doing something unusual for Tuaua.
“You’ve never heard me ever speak up for a kid when he screwed up, if he did,” Patterson said. “But you did now.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Patterson: ‘Facts will come out’ on TCU player arrests."