Patterson, now a Hall of Fame coach, is taking the reins of the Trojans\u2019 defense with renewed perspective on the sport. \u201cI\u2019ve been out for three years, so I got a chance to watch more football and evaluate people about how you play defense, how the game is going,\u201d he says.<\/b>
\nGary Patterson had one box in mind that he had to check after leaving the TCU football program.
\u201cYou had to be three years out to qualify for the College Hall of Fame,\u201d Patterson told reporters on Wednesday. \u201cWe hit all the other check marks. That was one of the reasons why I\u2019ve been out of it.\u201d
Patterson is returning to coach college football after leaving TCU \u2013 a program he spent 20 years with \u2013 in 2021. He\u2019s taking the reins of USC\u2019s defense with Hall of Fame status and a renewed perspective on the sport, cultivated in the four years he\u2019s been off the field.
He spun tales of his time with the Horned Frogs during Wednesday afternoon\u2019s introductory press conference, emphasizing the need to be tough while helping players grow as people and his simple defensive goal of holding opponents to one less point.
But more than anything, he convinced the room that the copious amounts of film he watched in recent seasons as an analyst with Texas and a consultant for Baylor have kept him sharp and ready to coach in the modern college football landscape.
\u201cMy wife watches Netflix. I watch film,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cThe cool thing for me is I\u2019ve been out for three years, so I got a chance to watch more football and evaluate people about how you play defense, how the game is going \u2013 how it all goes.\u201d
Patterson\u2019s TCU teams led the nation in defense in five different seasons, and he\u2019s known for developing the 4-2-5 defense that uses five defensive backs to combat the spread offense that quickly took over college football in the early 2000s.
But just because his identity is so closely linked to the defensive scheme doesn\u2019t mean it will be a constant presence at USC.
\u201cNot necessarily are you going to see all Gary Patterson defense,\u201d he said. \u201cReally, that\u2019ll come down to spring ball. We start seeing what we\u2019re good at, what we\u2019ll be good at, where we\u2019re going to need to stop people in this league and go from there.\u201d
USC will have an influx of talented players now that they\u2019ve signed the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation, and some are already familiar with the 4-2-5 scheme. For example, four-star cornerback Brandon Lockhart and three-star corner Madden Riordan played in it at Sierra Canyon, which uses the 4-2-5 as its base defense.
Patterson arrived on Friday, allowing for just a brief amount of time to get acquainted with the players and personnel. USC retained all of its defensive coaches after the departure of former defensive coordinator D\u2019Anton Lynn except for secondary coach Doug Belk, who left the program shortly after the transfer portal had closed.
Paul Gonzales, who previously worked with Patterson at TCU, is reportedly set to be hired as the Trojans\u2019 next secondary coach.
\u201cYou kind of got to take a couple steps back,\u201d Patterson said of the coaching staff he\u2019s joining. \u201cYou got to get to know them. You can\u2019t be winning if you don\u2019t have chemistry in the room.\u201d
The process of hiring Patterson began with a text message. Head coach Lincoln Riley reached out and asked if the position sounded interesting to him, and Patterson said he was intrigued by the recruiting that the Trojans were doing.
That led to a Zoom call to discuss what defensive philosophy Riley was seeking, which led to a more formal interview process with the school.
\u201cWe went through a pretty long, extensive process to get to this hire,\u201d Riley said. \u201cAnd we felt like we landed on one of the best guys in the business and a guy that\u2019s obviously done it for a long time at as high a level as anyone ever.\u201d
Patterson was also drawn to USC\u2019s 2026 Big Ten schedule, which was officially released on Tuesday and includes games against defending national champion Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State and Penn State.
He was quick to tell the room that, at 65 years old, he\u2019s just one year older than Coach of the Year Curt Cignetti, who led the Hoosiers to their first-ever national championship this season.
\u201cA lot of people, to be honest with you, would run from it,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the things that attracted me to the job.
\u201cYou\u2019re talking about a guy that was out for three years, so I\u2019ve been watching all this football and have an opportunity to say, OK, I can go to be part of a place like USC.\u201d<\/p>\n