TCU’s Gary Patterson wins AP coach of the year
As he prepares to take his team to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, TCU coach Gary Patterson won another award.
The Associated Press named Patterson its national coach of the year, giving him his eighth such honor following the Horned Frogs’ turnaround from 4-8 to 11-1 and near playoff participants.
It was the second AP coach of the year award for Patterson, who also won it in 2009. He and Nick Saban, who won in 2008 at Alabama and 2003 at LSU, are the only two-time winners.
Patterson committed a wholesale change to the TCU offense this season, hiring coordinators Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie to install the “Air Raid” offense.
Junior quarterback Trevone Boykin thrived in the new system, setting single-season school records for yards passing and touchdowns and finishing fourth in Heisman voting.
The Frogs ranked fourth in the nation in yards and second in scoring, setting school records for points and first downs.
In addition to the national AP award, Patterson won the AP’s Big 12 Coach of the Year award and the Football Writers’ Association of America Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
Other coach of the year awards came from the Big 12, the Walter Camp Football Foundation, ESPN/Home Depot, Scout.com and CBSSports.com.
Patterson also won the Woody Hayes Award and was a finalist for the Bobby Dowd Award and Paul “Bear” Bryant Award.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, a day before the national AP award was announced, Patterson appreciated the honors.
“There’s a lot of good coaches,” he said. “One of the things you’ve got to be able to do is get along with people. People don’t vote for people they don’t like. That’s one of the things that goes along with these awards.
“Over the years, we’ve helped a lot of coaches. You’ve got to give back, you’ve got to help people. I’m really intense here, but off the field it’s about how do you help people make their living? Obviously, you’ve got to try to beat them if you’ve got to play them. But there’s a lot more to our business — there should be a lot more to our business than what people sometimes think there is.”
Patterson signed a contract extension two weeks ago that takes him through the end of the decade at TCU.
Carlos Mendez, 817-390-7407
This story was originally published December 24, 2014 at 7:08 PM with the headline "TCU’s Gary Patterson wins AP coach of the year."