2019 TCU Season Preview

By Will Leverett

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Gary Patterson sits in the heart of TCU’s athletic complex in his office, which is adorned with bowl rings, signed pictures with program alumni and trophies. But he doesn’t want to talk about any of that. He wants to talk about the grass.

Amon G. Carter Stadium is out the window with a dirt field as the crew prepares to install a new playing surface. Apparently, the new grass is being installed by the same company that puts in the grass at Augusta National Golf Club. It’s a similar grass to the practice field, which survived a 110-play scrimmage in pouring rain with limited upkeep.

“It’ll be a faster playing surface, which is what we wanted,” Patterson said. “It’s an unbelievable strain of grass. Whoever developed it did real good.”

Not many coaches get this far into the weeds when it comes to the strain and process of grass installation. But then again, not many college football coaches have owned every detail of a college football program quite like Gary Patterson has at TCU.

Since Patterson was hired as head coach in 2000, the other four Power Five schools in the state have undergone a combined 17 coaching changes. None of the others have more than two years of experience with their current school. And even though the Horned Frogs are coming off a disappointing 7-6 season a year ago, they trail just Oklahoma in wins among Big 12 programs since realignment. No one is overreacting.

“Nobody’s happy,” Patterson said. “That’s the key to it, that nobody’s happy. But everyone knows everything that happened last year. You still did positive things for TCU by doing what you did and winning the bowl game.”

By everything, Patterson means the rash of injuries that dominated TCU’s roster a year ago. Key players at offensive line, defensive line, safety and running back missed extended games. That doesn’t even count three quarterbacks suffering injuries that proved to be season-ending. At one point, the Horned Frogs were 3-5 with an embarrassing loss to Kansas on the docket.

But instead of falling apart, the system and culture that Patterson has fostered in Fort Worth over more than 20 years with the program took over.

“I think it shows the foundation we have within the program, from coaches and players,” Patterson said. “Everyone rolled up their sleeves and got ready to go. We might have done that in the Mountain West, but we did it in the Big 12.”

Luckily, reinforcements are on the way. Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock missed the 2018 season with a torn Achilles. He could have competed for all-conference honors if healthy. Safety Innis Gaines was on his way to an all-conference season in 2018 before getting hurt. Offensive guard Cordel Iwuagwu, linebacker Garret Wallow and running back Darius Anderson all struggled through injuries too; all should be healthy for the season.

The flipside of suffering major injuries is simple: The depth has experience now too. Safeties La’Kendrick Van Zandt, Vernon Scott and Trevon Moehrig all got starting experience. Corner Noah Daniels and linebacker Ben Wilson saw the field too. All will be relied on to play bigger roles – if not start — in 2019.

Additionally, the Horned Frogs picked up a pair of graduate transfers in Kansas State quarterback Alex Delton and South Carolina defensive lineman Shameik Blackshear. Both players should play quickly. Delton is even the early favorite to win the starting quarterback job. The roster will look a whole lot more complete in 2019.

Patterson’s teams have won conference championships and major bowl games. They played in the Big 12 championship game just two years ago. Getting back to the mountaintop isn’t just a goal. It’s an expectation. It all starts with caring about every detail, down to every blade of grass on the field.

“You don’t want it to be that they’re just satisfied with a 7-6 season,” Patterson said. “You want a place where you win championships. That’s what our goal is, and that’s what we’ve done with everyone we’ve had.”

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