‘Sic Em, Frogs.’ Hell has installed an ice rink. Gary Patterson is a Baylor Bear

According to the timeline, Baylor should be in the college football playoff in the 2025 season.

In 2021, Gary Patterson “left” his job as the head coach at TCU. In 2022, the Horned Frogs reached the college football playoffs, and national title game.

In 2022, Patterson spent the season as an assistant-assistant at the University of Texas. He left the program after one season; in 2023, the Longhorns made the playoffs.

On Thursday, Patterson agreed to join head coach Dave Aranda’s staff at Baylor University for the 2024 season.

Watching former Baylor assistant coach Kendal Briles join TCU as an offensive coordinator was visibly odd, but seeing Patterson wearing Baylor’s green and gold will convince anyone that both the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are in fact real.

If Gary Patterson can flash the “Bear Claw” hand sign, who is to say Santa didn’t leave those presents?

Of all the teams Patterson coached against, none of them quite wormed their way under his visor the way Baylor did.

Patterson’s title at Baylor will be “Senior Level Strategic Consultant.” Whatever that means.

You know you’ve made it when you’re a “Consultant” cashing a check to offer an opinion without suffering the consequences.

A good season in Waco will help Patterson’s case that he should be a head coach again. If this doesn’t work, Patterson’s future as a head coach may have to be outside of the “power” jobs, or, it’s over.

FYI: TCU will play at Baylor on Nov. 2 in the 2024 season. This will be the second time Patterson will coach against TCU, but he has yet to make an appearance as a visitor at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Patterson has made it no secret he would like to coach again. For whatever reason, no major school has offered him the chance to be a head coach.

Going to Baylor should allow him to remain living in Fort Worth while commuting to and from Waco.

Baylor head coach Dave Aranda has long been an admirer of Patterson’s; after Patterson was forced out by TCU in the fall of ‘21, Aranda spoke highly of Patterson’s tenure at TCU, and specifically his impact coaching defenses.

Although Aranda’s background is defense, last season’s unit in Waco was one of the worst in the nation.

The Bears finished 3-9 last season, and are 23-24 in Aranda’s four seasons in Waco. Baylor finished 12-2 in 2021; that’s his lone winning season there.

Another losing record in 2024 and Baylor will have a hard time keeping him around for 2025. He is under contract through 2029.

Since leaving TCU, Patterson’s path has been bumpy.

In 2022, he joined Steve Sarkisian’s staff as a defensive analyst at the University of Texas. According to people familiar with that situation, and specifically that ‘22 season, Patterson’s re-entry to life as an assistant was uneven.

He had been TCU’s head coach from 2000 through most of 2021. That’s a long time to get used to life running your own shop.

As a defensive analyst, you can only do so much by design.

After the ‘22 season ended, and the coaching hiring cycle concluded without any offers, he was invited to return to UT for the ‘23 season with a few stipulations. Basically, he was politely asked to just stay in your lane.

Patterson, instead, essentially took the year off.

He visited some coaching friends, including Jerry Kill in his one season as head coach at New Mexico State.

Patterson frequented TCU home football games, including hosting a tail gate or two. He attended TCU’s home men’s basketball game on Saturday against Texas.

He is a young 63, and he’d like to be “back in it.”

Despite his record and historic run at TCU, neither moved the needle enough for another school to give him a shot.

At least some of that had to do with his reputation; the fear was his personality was not going to fit outside of TCU.

What a lot of coaches of his generation are discovering is that there is a quiet prejudice against them in this new model of NCAA football. Athletic directors, college presidents and the search firms that vet potential candidates aren’t too sure coaches over the age of 55, or so, are ideally suited for major college football.

Even before he left TCU, Patterson was not a big fan of the transfer portal. The looming reality of NIL money, and pay-for-play “student athletes” was not something he was excited about.

He was never shy about expressing his thoughts on the subjects; he even had a nickname, “Portal Parents.” It was not a flattering term.

That is the world of college football now; much of the considerable power that coaches had over players has been extracted, and transferred.

If one wants to coach in major college football, these are the rules. Do it, or don’t.

He wants to keep coaching, so he will be something that for the better part of 15 years was unfathomable: “Baylor Assistant Coach Gary Patterson.”