I said this at the end of last season, GP has pushed us as far as he can.
I remember when we first joined the Big 12, everyone was saying "Look at what he did with 2 star recruits and walk ons, now imagine what he can do with a Big 12 recruiting class"
My gut reaction to that was to pump the brakes. I played for the man, I can guarantee you he is a total football nerd and mastermind when it comes to the Xs and Os. And his style of practicing, preparation and attention to detail is 2nd to none.
BUT, it takes a certain type of player to respond well to that style of coaching. I was there from 2007-2010, and we did bring in some talented players on paper. People will point to Jeremy Kerley as a 4* success story, but for every Jeremy Kerley we had 2 Jurrell Thompsons, 4* players who did not respond well to Coach Patterson's style.
My fear was that his style works well when it comes to 2* players and walk ons and guys with chips on their shoulder, but not so much on guys with a lot of hype coming in who picked us over larger state schools. And while he has a good track record of turning 2* guys into NFL players, you can't turn every 2* player into the next Jerry Hughes. There is only so much you can do with limited talent
To put it another way, he is an Xs and Os coach and player developer, not an ego manager. He is a Rick Carlisle, not a Phil Jackson. With more talented players, you might need a Phil Jackson type to keep all the egos in check. Nick Saban is a Phil Jackson. He can keep the egos in check. He has the added bonus of, if you have someone who doesn't pan out at Alabama, your entire 3 deep is full of extremely talented players. Same with Lincoln Riley at OU to a lesser extent. We don't have the depth to be able to make up for a miss like those guys do.
Then you have the useful idiots in college football coaching. These guys are just public faces of the program who cheat and stockpile a mass of talented players and just hope they can keep the NCAA away hire enough good coordinators to wrangle them into a team. Dabo Swiney and Ed Oregeron being the 2 best examples. A private school like TCU can't get away with the useful idiot strategy.