TCU Football: Gary Patterson extension is bad news for rest of Big 12

The TCU football program is in good hands with Gary Patterson at the helm and that’s not going to change any time in the near future.

Life for Gary Patterson has been pretty good. He found himself a nice gig with TCU football back in 2000, he was an assistant in 1998, and has been the head coach ever since. Not many coaches can remain with one program for nearly two decades and have success the whole time, but Patterson is not most coaches.

The 57-year-old coach from Rozel, Kan., has done a remarkable job with TCU, making the Horned Frogs one of the premier teams in the Big 12.

Who saw that coming when the Horned Frogs went from Mountain West to Big 12 back in 2012? Probably not too many people, but the doubt for the head coach shouldn’t have been present. Still, going from a Group of Five conference to a Power Five conference isn’t easy, but Patterson made the transition nearly seamlessly.

However, the first two years were rough as he went 11-14, but he surpassed that win total in the next season, going 12-1 with a win in the Peach Bowl. He has three 10-plus win seasons in the last four years and TCU wants to keep him around a little longer.

This has to be huge for recruiting as well, knowing that Patterson is probably the most stable head coach in the Big 12. As the tweet above states, he’s the winningest coach in the state of Texas since 2000, and he continues to win with the Horned Frogs.

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The rest of the Big 12 has to be a little upset with this news because beating TCU hasn’t been easy over the past five years, and it’s going to continue being difficult until at least 2024. The Horned Frogs will be facing off against Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game next week after locking up a spot with a win over Baylor Friday night.