Well, it seems the AD could. They made the offer for him to help with the transition and to weigh in.
Uhhh, the "offer for him to help with the transition and to weigh in" is the same sort of offer made to the founder of a successful startup in Austin (and certainly in Silicon Valley, or so I have heard) when the venture capitalists dudes decide the founder is no longer the proper leader for a grown-up enterprise. A face-saving device (and possibly part of a formal or de facto non-compete) for the outgoing hero.
What it really means is, "go play a lot of golf (or whatever recreation suits you); keep your mouth shut except, when and if cornered by the press or a blogger, say something at least vaguely flattering and nice; you'll get extra benefits of some sort-- even more money; access to people and places that are fun; etc.-- if you behave."
My apologies for seeming so cynical, but if Patterson taking TCU from rags to riches isn't like a start-up hitting it big-- and then under the direction of the people with the money and in charge at the board level, bringing in "professional" management with the crazy-azz founder sidelined-- I don't know what is.
Something sort of like that happened to Twitter recently, or so I have heard. It happens all the time to much smaller companies that nevertheless have gone from brilliant ideas to successful businesses (with the help of OPM, and with Other People in the strategic position to make strategic decisions to keep the genius from riding the enterprise back down).