‘I’ll have more say.’ TCU’s Gary Patterson making final call on QB situation
TCU coach Gary Patterson isn’t going to default to co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie when it comes to the quarterback decisions this fall.
Patterson said he’d have “more say” on the subject, and that started with him declaring that Kansas State graduate transfer Alex Delton and true freshman Max Duggan would each play in the first quarter of Saturday’s opener against Arkansas- Pine Bluff.
Patterson mentioned multiple times last season that he’d like to see Mike Collins get more snaps early in the season, but Cumbie and the offensive staff preferred having “one guy” take the majority of snaps in Shawn Robinson.
“They got their say,” Patterson said. “Now I have a say. That’s not happening.”
TCU is coming off its worst scoring season of the Patterson era, averaging just 23.5 points a game last season. Cumbie and the offensive coaches have spent the offseason looking for ways to become more explosive.
The Frogs were dealt a number of injuries last season, including using four quarterbacks on the year, but Patterson feels it’s in the best interest of the team for him to have more input on the offensive side.
Of course, Patterson brings a different viewpoint to the table being a defensive guru. Most offensive coaches such as Cumbie prefer designating one quarterback because of how important that position can be. You want to ride with a guy through the ups and downs.
It’s easier to pull a linebacker out of the game for a missed tackle than yanking a quarterback after an interception. It’s a difficult balance of tough love and completely killing a player’s confidence.
But Patterson feels assistant coaches may get too attached to a particular player. After all, Robinson was a four-star recruit out of high school who had interest from a number of big-time programs including Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, Michigan and LSU.
“Coaches get emotionally attached to a recruit,” Patterson said. “They don’t see the tree. They don’t see it. ... It’s about I’m recruiting against this person, this person, this person, this person. I want to beat them. It’s not about us getting the best player, or this guy fits or not.
“They got a say. Now I’ll have more say. I’m the one at the end of the day that has to deal with it.”
Patterson went on to tell a story about his early days at TCU, serving as defensive coordinator under Dennis Franchione.
The defense needed a safety and a linebacker to fill out its recruiting class, but the program opted for a pair of Top 50-ranked cornerbacks in the state. Franchione made the final call.
“Neither of the cornerbacks panned out, and we still didn’t get a safety and a linebacker,” Patterson said. “I got told, ‘I’m the head coach. That’s the way we’ll do it.’ I said, ‘OK.’ But then I became the head coach and I had to deal with it.
“At the end of the day, assistant coaches can leave and they’ll take other jobs and they become a head coach and do it all. They leave and I’m still stuck with the recruit. If I say it, and they don’t turn out, then I’ve got to make them better. Then I have to deal with. I have nothing to complain about, so that’s kind of how we work things.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
