Chances Gary Patterson returns to Texas football in 2023 are ’50-50′
As Texas football faces some turnover on its staff this offseason, one of the major question marks surrounding the personnel under head coach Steve Sarkisian is the status of the special assistant to the head coach Gary Patterson. While Patterson was a great addition to Texas’ staff in 2022, there was never any guarantee that he would return to the Forty Acres in 2023.
In fact, I think that many Longhorns fans believed that Patterson would use this Texas position as a launchpad to find his next head coaching job assuming all things went well. Given that Patterson had a major impact on the Texas defense in 2022 in a very positive sense, I’d consider it a huge win for the Longhorns if he returned for the 2023 season.
But we got an update on Patterson’s status at Texas in 2023 early this week.
A report from Horns247 on Jan. 11 (paid content) mentions that there is essentially a coin flip’s chance that Patterson returns to Texas for the 2023 season. Chip Brown of Horns247 said that “I’d put the odds at 50-50” in regard to the possibility that Patterson returns to Texas for another year.
Gary Patterson still deciding whether he will return to Texas football in 2023
It sounds like Patterson enjoyed his first season on staff with Sark and the Longhorns in 2022 and that he was able to learn a lot. He mentioned in this piece that “I learned more than I gave” during his time coaching up Texas’ defense in 2022.
I think a lot of this decision for Patterson to potentially return to Texas for the 2023 season has to do with how much he actually wants some time to himself. He jumped into the Texas job pretty soon after he was let go as the TCU Horned Frogs head coach in 2021.
Before Patterson officially makes a return to a full-time head coaching position in college football, he might want some time away from the game completely. But that is mostly speculation based on various reports and some educated guesses.
All told, it looks like the current status of Patterson with the Longhorns is very much up in the air. If he wants to continue coaching up this defense for another season, I’m sure Sark and Pete Kwiatkowski would love to have Patterson back in the fold.
Next. Grading every portal addition for Texas thus far in 2023. dark
Texas finished up the 2022 season with a record of 8-5 (6-3 Big 12) following a loss in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 to the No. 12 Washington Huskies, by the final score of 27-20. Patterson and PK helped the Longhorns to become one of the most improved defenses in the Power Five in 2022.