2020 hindsight: 5 coaches Texas could have hired instead of Tom Herman

Gary Patterson knows how to win in the Big 12 and recruit the state of Texas

One day, we will look back fondly on the hall-of-fame coaching career of one Gary Patterson and wonder what could have been had he taken a more lucrative Power 5 job. Patterson is one of the longest-tenured head coaches in Division I, as he has been with the TCU Horned Frogs since 2000 on an interim basis and three conferences ago. He is a football coaching institution in Fort Worth.

Prior to the 2017 college football season, TCU had won at least 10 games in 15 full seasons under Patterson. They had won six conference championships, including the 2014 crown shared in conjunction with the Baylor Bears. TCU was coming off back-to-back top-seven finishes in the country by the time Texas was looking for a new head football coach. Patterson was in-state.

Since TCU joined the Big 12 along with the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2012, the Horned Frogs have gone 7-2 over the Longhorns, including 3-1 over Herman-led teams. Has TCU sent plenty of players to the NFL over the years? Yes, but this is maybe the third-best program in the state behind Texas and the Texas A&M Aggies forever and always. Patterson would have dominated.

Because Patterson is in his very early 60s and has unbelievable job security at TCU, why would he ever want to leave now? He has become TCU’s version of what Bill Snyder was for the Kansas State Wildcats: Mid-tier, Power 5 college football coaching royalty. Then again, had Patterson left for Austin, he would have absolutely risen to the occasion and would have Texas back by now.