TCU’s Patterson says ‘chemistry’ most important part when building a coaching staff
TCU coach Gary Patterson wants his staff to have chemistry more than anything else.
That’s his top priority in hiring assistants, more than any X’s and O’s knowledge. And that’s what Patterson has been looking for with two vacancies.
“Staffs are about chemistry,” Patterson said from the AFCA Convention as he became the organization’s president on Monday.
“I know a whole lot of people who have a lot of knowledge, but they don’t get along. ... What do they bring to the offensive or defensive room? How do they get along? They’re the ones who spend 18 hours a day with each other.
“One of the reasons why we’ve always been successful is our staffs have always gotten along.”
Patterson hasn’t made any formal announcements as far as his hires this off-season, but the expectation is Doug Meacham will rejoin the staff as inside receivers coach and Bryan Applewhite will come on board as a running backs coach.
Meacham had left Patterson’s staff in 2016 to become offensive coordinator at Kansas in 2017. He most recently had a brief stint with the XFL franchise in St. Louis. Applewhite had spent the past five years as the running backs coach at Colorado State.
Patterson mentioned Meacham and Applewhite by name in discussing his general philosophy to building staffs. He pointed to the AFCA Convention as an opportunity for a veteran head coach such as himself to meet young, promising coaches.
“I get a chance to meet a lot of other people and guys in the profession, especially all the younger coaches coming up who are the next stars, who are the next guys,” Patterson said. “Nobody knew, for example, who Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham were when they came back in 2014.
“Bryan Applewhite, guys who are part of our system, are going to be guys who make a difference for us because they get along and they bring something to the table. You have to bring something to the table. Everybody can’t be the same. That’s one of the coolest things about being here.”
Patterson said he gleaned plenty of knowledge from listening to staples in the coaching industry throughout his career. He played the mentor role as he kicked off a speaker series session with an hour-long speech, giving advice to young coaches.
“I’ve learned from a lot of guys,” Patterson said. “Sitting and listening to Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden and Mack Brown and Frank Beamer and LaVell Edwards. You go down the list of all the coaches.
“All the coaches through the years who have taken the time to sit down and talk to me about how I do my job, how you treat people, how you do all those kinds of things. That’s why getting a chance to be president is great, you try to be a good role model.
“For me, it’s about giving back so these guys know that if I had an opportunity being where I came from and what I did, that they possibly have an opportunity to be that guy some day.”
Patterson pointed to how he’s run his program in trying to develop coaches, just as much as players.
He’s proud to see a number of his former players pursue coaching careers, whether it’s at the high school level such as Fort Worth North Side’s Joseph Turner, or hiring former players to his own staff such as Zarnell Fitch and Jeremy Modkins.
“I believe in raising coaches and growing them up to teach them,” Patterson said. “That’s the way we do our system. Our GAs and analysts and everybody in our program. You’ve got to pass it forward.”
Washington recognized
TCU redshirt freshman safety Ar’Darius Washington earned another honor earlier this week, being named to the Freshman All-America Team by the Football Writers Association of America.
Washington had a team-high five interceptions on the season. Along with the FWAA recognition, Washington was also named the Big 12’s defensive freshman of the year.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 10:30 AM.
