Gary Patterson

Biography

Gary Patterson, a decorated former Power Four head coach and defensive innovator, enters his first season as USC's defensive coordinator in 2026. Patterson, who was recently named to the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame class, was the head coach at TCU for 21 seasons (2001-21). He was the Horned Frogs all-time winningest head coach with 181 victories (.696) and won 22 national coach of the year honors and four conference coach of the year honors throughout that time. In 2009 and 2014, he was recognized as the National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, AFCA, FWAA and Walter Camp. He finished his tenure in Fort Worth with a 181-79 record, including an undefeated 13-0 season in 2010 that was capped by a Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. TCU notched six conference championships under Patterson’s tutelage: Conference USA in 2002, Mountain West in 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and one share of the Big 12 title in 2014, with TCU being the first team left out of the initial four-team College Football Playoff. His teams won at least 10 games in 11 different seasons with 11 AP Top 25 finishes, with seven of those being AP Top 10 finishes, including No. 2 in 2010 and No. 3 in 2014. Prior to his arrival in Fort Worth in 1998, TCU had just four 10-win seasons in its history. Patterson led TCU to 17 bowl appearances during his tenure as head coach, and he went 11-6 in those bowls. He earned BCS berths three times: the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, the 2010 Rose Bowl and the 2014 Peach Bowl. Dur