Former TCU head coach Gary Patterson has officially joined the Texas football program as the special assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian.
It was a long awaited announcement, as rumors began to swirl months ago that Patterson was meeting with the Texas coaching staff about joining the program in some capacity.
While many assumed it would be some type of analyst role, the school posted a job opportunity earlier this month labeled the special assistant to the head coach. It was quite easy to connect the dots to Patterson considering the prior experience preferred for the position.
Roughly a week after the job posting, Patterson was spotted attending the Texas-Kansas State basketball game in Austin alongside athletics director Chris Del Conte. The fact that Patterson was spotted in a Longhorn polo all but confirmed the hiring.
On Friday, Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods reported that the hiring was finally official.
UT has made the hiring of former TCU coach Gary Patterson official. He will serve as Special Assistant to the Head Coach for Steve Sarkisian
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) January 21, 2022
Patterson served as the TCU head coach for 21 years with a record of 181-79. He won six conference championships and was widely respected for his defensive mind.
A few of his full-time responsibilities at Texas will include assisting with special projects assigned by Sarkisian, assisting with overall practice and game day preparation, statistical analysis, and video analysis of opposing teams, and travel with coaching staff and team to provide statistical support.
This is certainly a home run hire by Sarkisian, who has now hit it out of the park with the new additions to the staff this offseason.
Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.