• The KillerFrogs

FWST: Gary Patterson built TCU football through methods now unwelcome in sports | Opinion

fff91

Active Member
I am piling on, in a way, but it has always bothered me how he chews people out so publicly. I know coaches lose it every now and then or get in the players faces but it seems like it is mostly over on the bench and not meeting them halfway out on the field and the way he would dog cuss his coaches in front of the players seemed detrimental to me. It was at least embarrassing. He was successful so I guess you can't argue with that but no one is going to take that anymore and frankly they never should have had to. You can coach someone hard without belittling them.
 

froglash88

Full Member
New Media Art GIF by G1ft3d
 

vicarfrog

Active Member
FWIW and this is completely anecdotal. I was talking with a HS football coach, and it turns out, he is a HUGE respecter of Coach P. He described him as a genius.

I asked him if he felt the game had "passed him by," and this is basically what he said: no, not at all. Coach P is still a genius, still innovative with the game, and still has so much to offer. BUT unfortunately, what has passed him by, are the players of this generation." He said he sees it all the time now with the current HS athletes. They're like a mixture of lost boys and divas. They have no sense of deep purpose or aim, and they no longer view the game as a vehicle to grow and mature, but they view the game as a means to reach some higher status. He then said, it sucks, it's not really fun right now, but it is what it is.
 

BrewingFrog

Was I supposed to type something here?
FWIW and this is completely anecdotal. I was talking with a HS football coach, and it turns out, he is a HUGE respecter of Coach P. He described him as a genius.

I asked him if he felt the game had "passed him by," and this is basically what he said: no, not at all. Coach P is still a genius, still innovative with the game, and still has so much to offer. BUT unfortunately, what has passed him by, are the players of this generation." He said he sees it all the time now with the current HS athletes. They're like a mixture of lost boys and divas. They have no sense of deep purpose or aim, and they no longer view the game as a vehicle to grow and mature, but they view the game as a means to reach some higher status. He then said, it sucks, it's not really fun right now, but it is what it is.
This.
 

Jackson

Active Member
This article is a rarity by Big Steaming Pile…..spot on. The final straw was when a player falsely accused G.P. of calling him a racially charged word. That lie led to statements & shots from BLM to Major News/Opinion networks. Unfortunately the Genie was out of the bottle and suddenly everything Gary Patterson was bad. The TCU / Gary Paterson marriage unofficially ended when the magic Coach Paterson found unjustly disappeared at TCU’s football practice on 8/2/20.
 

Paint It Purple

Active Member
FWIW and this is completely anecdotal. I was talking with a HS football coach, and it turns out, he is a HUGE respecter of Coach P. He described him as a genius.

I asked him if he felt the game had "passed him by," and this is basically what he said: no, not at all. Coach P is still a genius, still innovative with the game, and still has so much to offer. BUT unfortunately, what has passed him by, are the players of this generation." He said he sees it all the time now with the current HS athletes. They're like a mixture of lost boys and divas. They have no sense of deep purpose or aim, and they no longer view the game as a vehicle to grow and mature, but they view the game as a means to reach some higher status. He then said, it sucks, it's not really fun right now, but it is what it is.
What these "lost boys and divas" need most right now is your HS coaching friend to lead them to a better way. Boys don't mind hard nosed and tough. As long as they see it's distributed fairly, AND the same dad, coach, mentor has their back. Boys will fight like hell for what's greater than themselves when they receive the leadership they crave. Thank God for Gary Patterson and those like him.
 

Pharm Frog

Full Member
This article is a rarity by Big Steaming Pile…..spot on. The final straw was when a player falsely accused G.P. of calling him a racially charged word. That lie led to statements & shots from BLM to Major News/Opinion networks. Unfortunately the Genie was out of the bottle and suddenly everything Gary Patterson was bad. The TCU / Gary Paterson marriage unofficially ended when the magic Coach Paterson found unjustly disappeared at TCU’s football practice on 8/2/20.
And yet if GP goes 9-3 or 8-4 this year he stays.
 

HG73

Active Member
Gary Patterson built TCU football through methods now unwelcome in sports | Opinion

FTW_CalvsTCUcfb16.JPG

BY Big Steaming Pile

Gary Patterson’s exit was not just the finale of an era for TCU, but another shovel of dirt on an eon of coaching.

In the final months of his regime, administrators pleaded with him that the methods of barking, and sometimes belittling players (and staffers), could be disastrous in the age of the transfer portal. GP is no dummy, and he would often tell staffers that he was a theater major at Kansas State.

The idea was that no one could be too sure if his sideline theatrics was a case of Gary Patterson lobbying for an Academy Award, or Gary Patterson lobbying for a ticket to an asylum.

Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mac-engel/article255892531.html#storylink=cpy
Finally writing something nice about someone who has gone. Jerk.
 

Purple Hearted

Active Member
FWIW and this is completely anecdotal. I was talking with a HS football coach, and it turns out, he is a HUGE respecter of Coach P. He described him as a genius.

I asked him if he felt the game had "passed him by," and this is basically what he said: no, not at all. Coach P is still a genius, still innovative with the game, and still has so much to offer. BUT unfortunately, what has passed him by, are the players of this generation." He said he sees it all the time now with the current HS athletes. They're like a mixture of lost boys and divas. They have no sense of deep purpose or aim, and they no longer view the game as a vehicle to grow antime mature, but they view the game as a means to reach some higher status. He then said, it sucks, it's not really fun right now, but it is what it is.
I'm also a long time HS football coach and though I didn't have this conversation with you, I've had one's like it with peers.

The Monday following GP's departure, the talk in our coaching office was all about GP and TCU. The guys on my staff and friends from staff's that I've worked with in the past were already shocked at all of the negativity about Coach Patterson from TCU supporters. I'd get texts asking things like "has TCU lost their mind" or "is there suspicion of him for some disgression", etc. I responded that it was just a few younger hot heads making a lot of noise (It seems that I was pretty far off with my opinion). The shock that HS coaches expressed at GP's ouster was unanimous among the guys that I know and I'd imagine that feeling was pretty prevalent among all Texas HS football coaches.

The game hasn't passed GP by. He's a football savant and is just as genius as he was 10 years ago. I've had the opportunity to hear him speak at clinics a few times and in that domain, his natural setting, he is clearly a special coach. All of the lay folk saying that he's been figured out, etc frankly don't know what they are talking about. The man can coach and as an aside about the yelling, etc, I've worked for HS head coaches that were just as volatile. The last guy I worked for would've given GP a run for the most animated and vocal award. It's part of the game and to your point, sorry, your friends point; he's absolutely correct. Kids today are just softer than they were when I grew up and they are softer than the kids I coached in the 90's and early 2000's were. HS football isn't near as big a deal on campuses as it used to be and kids that play it look at it more as their right than a privilege earned.
 

vicarfrog

Active Member
What these "lost boys and divas" need most right now is your HS coaching friend to lead them to a better way. Boys don't mind hard nosed and tough. As long as they see it's distributed fairly, AND the same dad, coach, mentor has their back. Boys will fight like hell for what's greater than themselves when they receive the leadership they crave. Thank God for Gary Patterson and those like him.
I don't disagree with that and he wasn't blaming Gary.

I just think you're starting with a shockingly lower baseline.
 

vicarfrog

Active Member
I'm also a long time HS football coach and though I didn't have this conversation with you, I've had one's like it with peers.

The Monday following GP's departure, the talk in our coaching office was all about GP and TCU. The guys on my staff and friends from staff's that I've worked with in the past were already shocked at all of the negativity about Coach Patterson from TCU supporters. I'd get texts asking things like "has TCU lost their mind" or "is there suspicion of him for some disgression", etc. I responded that it was just a few younger hot heads making a lot of noise (It seems that I was pretty far off with my opinion). The shock that HS coaches expressed at GP's ouster was unanimous among the guys that I know and I'd imagine that feeling was pretty prevalent among all Texas HS football coaches.

The game hasn't passed GP by. He's a football savant and is just as genius as he was 10 years ago. I've had the opportunity to hear him speak at clinics a few times and in that domain, his natural setting, he is clearly a special coach. All of the lay folk saying that he's been figured out, etc frankly don't know what they are talking about. The man can coach and as an aside about the yelling, etc, I've worked for HS head coaches that were just as volatile. The last guy I worked for would've given GP a run for the most animated and vocal award. It's part of the game and to your point, sorry, your friends point; he's absolutely correct. Kids today are just softer than they were when I grew up and they are softer than the kids I coached in the 90's and early 2000's were. HS football isn't near as big a deal on campuses as it used to be and kids that play it look at it more as their right than a privilege earned.

Thank you for sharing this insight. What you said pretty much echoed my coach friend's sentiments.
 

Pharm Frog

Full Member
I'm also a long time HS football coach and though I didn't have this conversation with you, I've had one's like it with peers.

The Monday following GP's departure, the talk in our coaching office was all about GP and TCU. The guys on my staff and friends from staff's that I've worked with in the past were already shocked at all of the negativity about Coach Patterson from TCU supporters. I'd get texts asking things like "has TCU lost their mind" or "is there suspicion of him for some disgression", etc. I responded that it was just a few younger hot heads making a lot of noise (It seems that I was pretty far off with my opinion). The shock that HS coaches expressed at GP's ouster was unanimous among the guys that I know and I'd imagine that feeling was pretty prevalent among all Texas HS football coaches.

The game hasn't passed GP by. He's a football savant and is just as genius as he was 10 years ago. I've had the opportunity to hear him speak at clinics a few times and in that domain, his natural setting, he is clearly a special coach. All of the lay folk saying that he's been figured out, etc frankly don't know what they are talking about. The man can coach and as an aside about the yelling, etc, I've worked for HS head coaches that were just as volatile. The last guy I worked for would've given GP a run for the most animated and vocal award. It's part of the game and to your point, sorry, your friends point; he's absolutely correct. Kids today are just softer than they were when I grew up and they are softer than the kids I coached in the 90's and early 2000's were. HS football isn't near as big a deal on campuses as it used to be and kids that play it look at it more as their right than a privilege earned.
So if everything was hunky-dory and the coach was just as sharp as ever, why the regression in the one statistic that matters? W/L You can’t blame players because his players were getting beat by other coaches’ players from the same soft era. So what was it? Was he bringing in soft, entitled players while WVU, KSU, OU, ISU, SMU, etc were bringing in tough, hungry players?
 

Sangria Wine

Active Member
And at whatever point this notion accurately describes college football is the moment I quit caring completely about it. I’ll clear my Saturdays in the fall for more fishing. I watch college sports because it’s not pro sports. Let the athletes start acting like pros and the softness prevail and I don’t care about it anymore.
 

Pharm Frog

Full Member
And at whatever point this notion accurately describes college football is the moment I quit caring completely about it. I’ll clear my Saturdays in the fall for more fishing. I watch college sports because it’s not pro sports. Let the athletes start acting like pros and the softness prevail and I don’t care about it anymore.
My consumption is already greatly diminished. To the extent that Mrs Pharm asked me earlier this year if something was wrong.
 

Paint It Purple

Active Member
I don't disagree with that and he wasn't blaming Gary.

I just think you're starting with a shockingly lower baseline.
I compared your coaching friend to Gary Patterson and thanked God for them both. Not sure how that's starting from a shockingly low baseline?

BTW: loved you in "Dibley"
 

vicarfrog

Active Member
I compared your coaching friend to Gary Patterson and thanked God for them both. Not sure how that's starting from a shockingly low baseline?

BTW: loved you in "Dibley"

My apologies! I misread your paragraph.

As to the lower baseline, that was a poorly written sentence. Not directed at you at all. It was a very bad attempt at clarifying (though now I see I had no need).

Hope you have a Happy and blessed Thanksgiving!
 

Sangria Wine

Active Member
My consumption is already greatly diminished. To the extent that Mrs Pharm asked me earlier this year if something was wrong.
Same here. I try to convince myself it’s not there yet, but obviously it is if a legendary coach like GP is too hard and too mean to succeed anymore coaching the sport. That’s not a NIL issue or a transfer portal issue. It’s a overall softness issue and if you have to be a psychologist, social engineering, woke, softy to be a successful college head coach then I’m most definitely out. I wouldn’t want my son coached by that type person and I don’t want my own resources supporting it.

I sure love the pageantry of Saturday game days, but thinking I’ll just drop down a division and start spending my resources on my own Tarleton State University, who is now playing D1 football in the WAC. TCU has been our home team my whole life and even after going a different direction for college and grad school I’ve kept the all these years connected. Way before it was a cool school to cheer for I was there. My personal connection to TCU passed away several years ago and I cherish the time and relationships I’ve been a part of at TCU. I’ll cherish the picture of the flags at half staff sent to me by the Chancellor when she passed away. We’ve had football season tickets since 1987, but that ship has sailed I guess. I’ll keep my baseball seats and continue to spend time at Lupton watching my favorite sport. I have a feeling that just like I walked away from TCU basketball when Billy was shoved out having not gone to another game at DMC since I may have that same response to this football change. My relationships with TCU have always been to people more than the school and unfortunately maybe that makes me more susceptible to being turned off by these situations too. When Lance was screwed around by EH I was bitter, but also happy for my friend Jim Schlossnagle to come to town. Losing Schloss was tough, but I really like Kirk and feel continued program connection and appreciate that college baseball still feels totally different than pro baseball.

Long winding post, but this whole saga has been pretty disheartening to watch unfold. College sports isn’t what it used to be, TCU isn’t what it used to be, and a portion of the fan base has grown to act just like Texas fans in my view. Something I didn’t see coming at all and maybe that’s the biggest disappointment of them all.
 
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