John Brice (FootballScoop.com) — Earlier in January, Gary Patterson was selected for enshrinement into the College Football Hall of Fame.
It might not be the biggest thing that happens to Patterson this month.
Several sources tell FootballScoop that Kansas native Patterson is definitely the top target for the USC defensive coordinator post on Lincoln Riley’s Trojans staff. USC’s top defensive role was vacated last month when D’Anton Lynn departed for his alma mater, Penn State, to run the defense for new Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell.
While a deal has not yet been signed, per multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, Patterson and USC have deemed the weeks-long process as “not done yet but in its final stages,” per sources.
Added another source, “Not finalized.” The move is trending positively for Riley and the Trojans.
“A deal is expected to come together in the near future,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel wrote on his X account.
Once one of college football’s longest-tenured head coaches at the Football Bowls Subdivision level and the driving force in TCU’s rise from Group of Five, Mountain West Conference resident to Big 12 Conference championships, Patterson amassed 181 wins (.696 %) atop the Horned Frogs program. He was twice named the AFCA’s and the AP’s National Coach of the Year (2009, 2014). Patterson’s resume also includes 11 bowl victories, including a win at the Rose Bowl to end the 2010 campaign. The Horned Frogs won double-digit games 11 times during his tenure as well as six total conference championships.
But before he was TCU’s head coach, Patterson was the Horned Frogs defensive coordinator — a spot he took over after two seasons running the defense at New Mexico. He’s got additional coaching stops at Navy, Utah State and Tennessee Tech, among others.
Patterson turns 66 next month the day before Valentine’s Day. He has worked in special roles at Texas and Baylor since he agreed to leave TCU eight games into the 2021 season with a 3-5 record and some large losses.
TCU still placed Patterson into the school’s athletics hall of fame this past season during the Horned Frogs game against nearby rival SMU.
While Lynn helped the Trojans post a dramatic jump in scoring defense, among other categories, especially from the 2023 to the 2024 season, with more limited improvements in 2025, USC will be hoping that Patterson can help the program secure a defense that can finally position the Trojans to be viable College Football Playoff contenders in Riley’s Year 5 at the helm.
After an 11-win 2022 season, the fifth season of double-digit wins in Riley’s first six years as a head coach, USC has failed to notch more than nine wins.
The Trojans allowed 34 points last season in a come-from-ahead loss at Illinois, allowed 34 in a loss at Notre Dame, 42 in a defeat at Oregon and 30 in their bowl loss to … Patterson’s old program, TCU. Poor defense was largely the issue in all those losses.
In fact, defense has largely been the primary issue preventing the Trojans from restoring some of the glory days of the past during Riley’s tenure. USC has yet to make the College Football Playoff with Riley, but increased expectations from Trojan fans are shaping up to be a firm reality in 2026.
It seems like it will be up to Patterson to help the defense deliver on those expectations.
USC is scheduled to open its 2026 season at home Sept. 5 against visiting Fresno State, followed by a home game a week later against Sun Belt Conference program Louisiana. The Trojans tried to persuade Notre Dame to play a Week Zero game on Aug. 29 to keep alive that highly valued century-plus-old rivalry, but Notre Dame declined to play USC that early in the season despite its greater schedule flexibility — and will open the season with its regularly scheduled game against Wisconsin at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field the following weekend.
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Good article by Chris Arledge
https://www.on3.com/teams/usc-trojans/news/musings-from-arledge-is-gary-patterson-the-right-choice-right-now-for-the-usc-trojans/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking_43705556_usc&utm_term=USC%20Trojans%20News
Gary Patterson to USC is finally official.
Good!…….hopefully between him and the STC we can take a step…..
There were a few Hoosiers tuned in……out of 7 million in the population I’d estimate at least one hundred or so did not tune in.
Where’s all the USC talent?
On3’s Top 100 college football players for the 2026 season
#27 RS-SR QB Jayden Maiava
No other Trojans are to be found on this early Top 100 list.
RS-SR CB Jontez Williams comes in at #108
JR RB King Miller — #153
JR DL Jide Abasiri — #219
SR IOL Killian O’Connor — #276
JR WR Terrell Anderson — #281
SO WR Tanook Hines — #282
on3.com
The weakness in the recruiting classes three and four years ago is showing its face.
Although development, coaching turnover and the portal etc are also not helping.
Here are a couple of ex Trojans on the top 100 list,
22. DL Bear Alexander, Oregon
32. WR Duce Robinson, Florida State
This list has zero credibility. Killian O’Connor made it, but Elijah Page didn’t? No Jakeem Stewart or Waymond Jordan? I know the talent at SC is still lacking, but this compilation was poorly researched?
And does anyone know if we will have a DC in house by the beginning of Spring football?
Could on3 be another USC hater?
……..no……..as far as the list goes its an opinion……..at this time of year everybody thinks their players are all 1st team BIG. The reality hits when the games are played. The end of year BIG ratings should be a little more meaningful. For example in 2025 USC had two 1st team and a 2nd. Lemon, Fitzgerald and McRee were our guys. All three will be gone. 3rd teamers were Lane, Sayeri and Maiava. Obviously Lane is gone.
Is it possible we are looking at the head coach in waiting at this point? Is the rope long enough for Riley to swing from it? If that attitude is even a slim thought, would Gary undermine Lincoln?
Or as I put on my sunshine glasses will I still believe we’re gust a few pieces away from competing again?
I hope not. We can do much better than GP as the HC.
He could be an interim HC when we dump Riley in the middle of another series of underwhelming performances against the better teams on our schedule. I can dream, can’t I?
The last really good defenses GP had as a HC was they were 8th in 2014in total defense and 16th in 2017.In 2021 when he was fired they were 118th in total defense. Of course, those years he was not the DC but the HC and he was in the Big 12 which was totally offensively oriented. His last 2 years as a strickly DC was 1999 and 2000. In those years his teams finished 5th and 1st in the nation in total defense. Hopefully, in 2022-2025 he’s had time to sit back and think about how the game has… Read more »
And GP should hopefully understand the Big Ten is nothing like the Big 12 in being physical and having to stop the run above all. I hope he is secure enough in his own skin to deal with the NFL heavy coaches if need be?
Oh no, he’s LR “good friend”?
We’ve seen that horror flick before.
Hopefully he fires that lard ass, long haired Rob Ryan?
What’s Patterson doing in that picture below? Is he mimicking a bear or flicking a booger at the photographer?
Paul Finebaum eats massive crow over the Hoosiers and B1G football superiority.
“It is the greatest story in the history of the game”
I love the fact that the SEC has totally failed, and espn, the clown network has failed with them. The mouth of the south has been silenced, at least to a strong degree.
I think that ESPN is great if you happen to love insane far left wing politics.
Simply wow! But after watching those Hoosiers, if they were to rerank them, I think they would be higher on the board by quite a bit.
The pure power of coaching.
The NW (8-10) and USC (14-4) men are about to tip off at the Galen Center (BTN).
Alijah Arenas will be playing for the Trojans the first time this season.
A few cameos before he goes pro. It’s like a couple of triple A starts after rehabbing from an injury to the pitching arm.
I absolutely hate this one and done crap.
Now that USC is getting around to finally naming a badly needed new DC, it’s important to note: The more decisions we can take out of LR’s hands, the better. He’s a play caller/QB recruiter who knew nothing about establishing a great football culture at USC when he arrived. Defense and special teams were totally deficient for years. USC has already paid a huge price due to LR’s lack of leadership and vision. We’re slowly climbing out of a huge hole LR created. Baby steps, but the direction is positive. I dislike losing excellent DB coach/uber recruiter Doug Belk, but he just doesn’t fit in with LR’s defensive plans… Read more »
As far as Belk is concerned, we lose a good recruiter but we already have another good coach that works with the D-Backs(Trovon Reed) and Patterson will also work with them. If Henderson decides to leave, I would give Ed O a call. It’s hard to find a better D-Line coach than him and he loves USC.And whatever you lose in recruiting because of Belk will be more than overcome with coach O.
Well lets hope it is not Monte Kiffin 2.0. Are we getting the old Gary Patterson or an old Gary Patterson? In his last 10 seasons at TCU he had 3 seasons with double digit wins and 6 losing seasons. All we can do is hope he still has the chops. Wonder what the assistants will be?
I like that Patterson’s whole resume is at the college level. A DC who thinks like an NFL coach assumes all of his college talent can perform at NFL level levels, perhaps. As good as D-1 college kids are, there’s only a couple per team that have NFL ability. I hope Patterson will coach and scheme according to what he has for talent.