ITCHING TO TURN IT AROUND
HORNED FROGS COACH PATTERSON NO STRANGER TO REVERSALS OF FORTUNE
W hile others were singing “Auld Lang Syne” last New Year’s Eve, TCU coach Gary Patterson was stewing about old acquaintances he couldn’t forget. And Patterson, the nation’s second-longest tenured coach to Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, couldn’t wait to get back on the football field.
“Any time you have a season you don’t want to have, you want to get back in as quick as you can,” Patterson said. “We had to get back to being more physical, and we started that in January.”
The Horned Frogs finished 6-7 last season, capped by a 3123 loss to Georgia in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 30.
“The good news is we have everybody back,” Patterson said this summer. “The bad news is we were 6-7, and we have everybody back. So how do you make that work?”
Patterson, 57, has made it work plenty over his previous 16 seasons at TCU. In 2004, the Horned Frogs finished 5-6 and rebounded with an 11-1 record in 2005. In 2013, TCU was 4-8 only to finish 12-1 a year later.
“You’re going to have seniororiented groups, and you’re going to have young-oriented groups,” Patterson said. “When you’re older, you’re going to be better.”
TCU returns 10 starters on offense and seven on defense, with defensive line the biggest question after losing three starters. Linebacker, led by Travin Howard and Ty Summers, should be a strength.
Howard led the Big 12 with 130 tackles last season.
“If each of us goes out there and does our job, we can stop any team in the nation,” Summers said.
One last hurrah for Hill
Quarterback Kenny Hill, who transferred from Texas A&M more than two years ago and started last season, is expected to lead the way on offense. Last season Hill threw for 3,208 yards while rushing for another 609, but he also threw 13 interceptions to go with 17 touchdown passes.
“I’ve got to do a better job of helping him with his swagger,” Patterson said of Hill upping his confidence entering his senior season. “We’ve got to give him help. We’ve got to catch the ball better. We’re going to be better up front on the offensive line, and we only lost one wide receiver. All of those things benefit him, and we’ve got to put him in an offense that bends toward his strengths.”
Hill played sparingly as a true freshman at A&M in 2013 before earning the starting job as a sophomore, only to lose it halfway through the 2014 season to Kyle Allen (now the starting QB at Houston).
Hill redshirted in 2015 at TCU under NCAA transfer rules. He’ll answer to a different offensive coordinator this season, as Sonny Cumbie is now calling the plays at TCU, after Doug Meacham left for a similar position at Kansas.
“It’s all about getting that feeling, just being comfortable not only with the team, but the offense and everything,” Hill said. “It’s about growing from year to year. You have to keep getting better each and every year.”
TCU’s attempt at yet another remarkable rebound begins on Sept. 2 at home against Jackson State. The Horned Frogs’ schedule, however, is one of their toughest since joining the Big 12 in 2012. In addition to playing at Arkansas on Sept. 9, TCU plays on the road against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State, the top three picks to win the Big 12, according to a preseason media poll.
“Just like I am,” Patterson said of his impatient players, “they’re ready to go.”