Did Patterson blow his chance?

[George S. Patton]

I starting thinking about this toward the end of the game. I've long been of the opinion that Gary Patterson will not leave TCU for a mid-range BCS job. He shouldn't because of all that he has accomplished in Fort Worth.

I have maintained that he should hold out for Florida, Texas, Alabama, USC, Notre Dame or something like those upper echelon jobs. But I'm wondering how big-time ADs across the country looked at last night and thought, if they wanted to contend for a national championship, would they believe Patterson could do it.

I still think he could. But the one flaw in his resume is that when Patterson teams play on the big stage, they have fallen short more than they have succeeded. Of course, the definition of the big stage could go anywhere. Winning at OU is great. Winning at Clemson is great. Winning at BYU is great. But then there's the loss to us in 2005, loss at Utah last year and of course, the Fiesta Bowl where that team looked really tight.

While Patterson's body of work (insert your fat joke here) is impressive, there is that little thing that's missing. Boise State's Chris Peterson has the edge because he has won on the big stage.

I welcome your thoughts...

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

General it may be odd, but I tend to agree with you. Patterson is right where he belongs and I think he probably realizes it. Plus I hear his wife has family in Fort Worth, he makes good money, and TCU is not a pressure cooker like the other places you mentioned. Patterson is trying to avoid the Peter Principle!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Since the recent uptick in tcu's football program, the other head coaches who have moved to jobs at bigger schools have really done a great job as well.

[PK]

But the one flaw in his resume is that when Patterson teams play on the big stage, they have fallen short more than they have succeeded. Of course, the definition of the big stage could go anywhere. Winning at OU is great. Winning at Clemson is great. Winning at BYU is great. But then there's the loss to us in 2005, loss at Utah last year and of course, the Fiesta Bowl where that team looked really tight.

I'm not sure what a coach can do when a team is totally out of sync like TCU was last night. Obviously even Mack Brown has problems with that type situation (UT vs Nebraska).

[redpony]

From an SMU perspective I would love to see Patterson move to a team that we do not normally play or recruit against. However, I agree that he is probably very comfortable at TCU- at least until they fail to win. If they should start losing you have to wonder how much pressure he would be under to possibly move on.

GO PONIES!!!

[EastStang]

To think Patterson could blow his own chance, that's pretty incredible.

[smupony94]

To think Patterson could blow his own chance, that's pretty incredible.

some guys are luckier than others

[PonyExpress83]

Somebody should count how many times that fat fool has to pull up his pants during each game. Seems like everytime i see him on the camera during games he is pulling up his pants. get a belt fatty

[rich59]

Just got back from Phoenix where I had 50 yardline seats for the game. The two teams were pretty evenly matched and both IMO can play with anybody in the nation. I believe that Peterson and his staff have a slight edge over Patterson and his staff but both would do a good job anywhere. BS decided to make Dalton beat them and he was not up to the job. Based on what I saw last night, neither of the two OBs has the potential to play on Sundays that Padron has and I believe that SMU will be able to compete with TCU and almost anybody in two years.

[Bergermeister]

Somebody should count how many times that fat fool has to pull up his pants during each game. Seems like everytime i see him on the camera during games he is pulling up his pants. get a belt fatty

The TCU Bookstore is bound to sell suspenders - now whether or not they have enough elastic to reach from front-to-back is another question...

[The PonyGrad]

I still think he could. But the one flaw in his resume is that when Patterson teams play on the big stage, they have fallen short more than they have succeeded. Of course, the definition of the big stage ... the loss to us in 2005, ...

Wow, we are the big stage?!?

[PK]

Hey "The PonyGrad"...time to change your signature to "WE beat Nevada."

[Pony in SA]

General -- did you see post game interview room where Patterson blamed lack of phones working on their sidelines and other things against TCU as reason they looked unprepared ? he said only thing he would have changed in preparation would be to "back off one day in practice" so his guys were not so uptight, otherwise he wouldn't change a thing he did.

I think he came off poorly post game. Even my wife who is not that into football said "is that really TCU's coach. What a cry baby !"

Did the phones not working thing get reported in Ft. Worth. Just curious your take on that.

[The PonyGrad]

Hey "The PonyGrad"...time to change your signature to "WE beat Nevada."

Oh yeah, right.

[Corso]

Since the recent uptick in tcu's football program, the other head coaches who have moved to jobs at bigger schools have really done a great job as well.

Especially Franchione, huh?