College football’s top 25 highest-paid coaches for 2020 season

20. Gary Patterson – TCU

• 2020 Salary: $4.9 million

We’ve reached the top-20, and we start with a team that’s had wildly varied results. Gary Patterson’s list of wins since TCU joined the Big 12 goes as followed: 7, 4, 12, 11, 6, 11, 7, 5. Some years, TCU is in Big 12 contention, while others are closer to Kansas in the standings. Patterson is always at the helm, no matter the results.

However, it seems the results aren’t entirely important. He’s been with TCU for three different conference changes. When he took the team over in the 2000 season, it was the last year in the WAC before they joined Conference USA. Then, in 2005 they left to join the Mountain West. Finally, they were a part of the mass change in conferences around 2010, and they joined the Big 12, where they will likely stay for a long time.

Patterson has been talked about as a calming presence, something a team like TCU needs when they continuously switch conferences. It might be especially important at a time like this. The students are going to need someone to help them get through the lockdowns and lack of an offseason.

Heck, even the non-athletes will need their head coach to take on more of a leadership role. That’s how a coach like Patterson makes his money. He’s not only coaching a football team. he’s playing ambassador to the entire university.