Gary Patterson
Gary Patterson took TCU from Regional Program II to Power Program I.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 9th career season — faster than 10% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #332 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
24–7 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Lincoln Riley.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
2nd-best TCU tenure of 13 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Succeeded by Sonny Dykes (2022–2026).
| Season | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 0–1 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 11–2 | 5–6 | 11–1 | 11–2 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 12–1 | 13–0 | 11–2 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 12–1 | 11–2 | 6–7 | 11–3 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–4 | 3–5 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | W bowl | W bowl | CFP loss | W bowl | W bowl | — | — | — | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | #43 | #39 | #21 | #28 | #25 | #33 | #28 | #61 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 51.0 | 48.0 | 50.8 | 44.7 | 45.2 | 43.6 | 39.9 | 39.6 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| OC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Doug Meacham / Sonny Cumbie | Doug Meacham / Sonny Cumbie | Doug Meacham / Sonny Cumbie | Curtis Luper / Sonny Cumbie | Curtis Luper / Sonny Cumbie | Curtis Luper / Sonny Cumbie | Sonny Cumbie | Doug Meacham | |
| DC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dick Bumpas | Chad Glasgow / DeMontie Cross | Chad Glasgow | Chad Glasgow | Chad Glasgow | Chad Glasgow | Chad Glasgow | Chad Glasgow | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 84 | 73 | 44 | 70 | 6 | 26 | 74 | 69 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 99 | 80 | 38 | 88 | 87 | 78 | 79 | 6 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 45.1 | 44.3 | 50.3 | 44.4 | 42.0 | 38.5 | 37.5 | 41.8 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 39.0 | 36.6 | 45.4 | 36.2 | 40.2 | 36.0 | 26.9 | 36.2 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21.2 | 26.0 | 24.4 | 25.6 | 23.4 | 20.5 | 25.0 | 41.0 | |
Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
55 NFL Draft picks: LaDainian Tomlinson (2001), Aaron Schobel (2001), George Layne (2001), Curtis Fuller (2001), Shawn Worthen (2001), Cedric James (2001), Matt Schobel (2002), Adrian Madise (2003) + 47 more
1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Trevon Moehrig (2020)