Where does TCU’s Gary Patterson rank on ESPN’s greatest college football coaches list?
TCU coach Gary Patterson earned some high praise on Thursday.
ESPN ranked Patterson as the 74th greatest coach of all-time, writing:
“Patterson has the rare distinction of winning conference titles (and being named Coach of the Year) in three different leagues at the same school. He shepherded the Horned Frogs from Conference USA to the Mountain West to the Big 12. His teams have won six league titles, posted seven top-10 finishes and played in 17 bowl games in his 20 seasons. In 2010, TCU went 13-0 and defeated Wisconsin 21-19 in the Rose Bowl.”
Patterson, known as one of the best defensive minds in the game, has a career record of 172-70 in 19 seasons at TCU. He has led the team to a bowl game in 16 of the 19 seasons, as this season is one of the rare times the Horned Frogs have fallen short of bowl eligibility in his tenure.
Another legendary TCU coach, Dutch Meyer, made the list too at No. 135. As ESPN wrote:
“If your resume includes two of the most distinguished quarterbacks in college football history, then you were obviously doing something right. But Meyer didn’t just develop all-timers Sammy Baugh and Davey O’Brien. He won 109 games in 19 seasons at his alma mater, including three Southwest Conference titles and the 1938 national championship.”
Francis Schmidt, who preceded Meyer as TCU’s coach from 1929-33, is ranked No. 125. Schmidt coached two undefeated teams in his tenure with the Horned Frogs, the 9-0-1 season in 1929 and the 10-0-1 season in 1932.
As far as Patterson, he is just one of nine active coaches on it.
Alabama’s Nick Saban is ranked as the No. 2 all-time coach followed by Clemson’s Dabo Swinney (31), Washington’s Chris Petersen (58), North Carolina’s Mack Brown (59), Buffalo’s Lance Leipold (78), Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly (89), Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher (110) and Kansas’ Les Miles (140).
Petersen recently stepped away from his post at Washington.
Legendary Alabama coach Paul (Bear) Bryant is ranked as No. 1 all-time followed by Saban, Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne and Grambling’s Eddie Robinson in the top five.
The top 10 includes longtime Oklahoma coach Charles (Bud) Wilkinson at No. 6 followed by Penn State’s Joe Paterno, Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, Ohio State’s Woody Hayes and Notre Dame’s Frank Leahy.
Other notable coaches on the list include former Texas coaches Darrell Royal (38) and Dana X. Bible (104); former Texas A&M coaches Jackie Sherrill (116) and Gene Stallings (123); former Oklahoma coaches Barry Switzer (13) and Bob Stoops (29); and former Dallas Cowboys, Miami Hurricanes and Oklahoma State coach Jimmy Johnson (49).
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 11:48 AM.
