LOS ANGELES — Shortly after Gary Patterson’s famed two-decade tenure at TCU ended in 2021, the veteran head coach decided to take three years off from his profession to gain eligibility for the College Football Hall of Fame.
When the Hall of Fame welcomed him into its 2026 class this month, Patterson was already itching to get back to work.
He swiftly found his next coaching challenge as Lincoln Riley’s defensive coordinator at Southern California. Patterson is an assistant again after more than two decades as the respected head coach of the overachieving Horned Frogs, but he welcomes the change with a clear knowledge of its upside.
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“I love it, to be honest with you,” Patterson said with a grin. “One of the good parts about being a coordinator, anything I really don’t want to answer, I’m just gonna say, ‘That’s Coach Riley’s question.’ I’ve been waiting 20-some years to be able to say that.”
Patterson met the media at the John McKay Center on Wednesday for the first time since he ended his coaching hiatus by taking on one of the highest-profile coordinator jobs in college football for the upcoming season. The pressure is on at USC, which hasn’t contended for a conference title or the College Football Playoff since Riley’s debut season in 2022 despite the Trojans’ extensive commitment of resources to the program.
The Trojans have one of the nation’s top recruiting classes and a roster full of talented veterans, but they’ll have a new defense when they face a brutal Big Ten schedule this fall.
Nothing about this challenge intimidates Patterson, who went 181-79 at TCU with 10 bowl victories, 11 double-digit victory seasons and two unbeaten regular seasons.
“A lot of people would have run from it,” Patterson said of the challenges awaiting USC. “That’s why I wanted to get back into it.”
Patterson, who turns 66 next month, never left football during his break. He still studied film like a coach, and he consulted with friends in the profession to stay fresh for his return to a sideline – although he also had more free time than usual.
“Coach Riley can tell you, I was a terrible golfer because I played about five times a year,” Patterson said. “And now I’ve got to be where I’m a lot better golfer. Now I’ll go back to being a bad golfer, but it’s OK. I’m going to be happy about that.”
Riley and Patterson coached against each other over the years, but hadn’t worked together. Riley contacted Patterson last month about replacing D’Anton Lynn, who left USC after two seasons to join Penn State, his alma mater.
Riley said Patterson is “one of the best guys in the business, and a guy that’s done it at the highest level for the longest time. There was never anybody that was more of a pain to game-plan against and try to move the ball against than him.”
Patterson said his goal at USC is simple: “To teach the defense, to try to get it to the level the offense has played here.”
Indeed, the gulf between Riley’s offenses and defenses frequently has been massive throughout his career at Oklahoma and USC.
Riley had to fire his good friend, Alex Grinch, after his awful defense doomed Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams’ final season in 2023. While Lynn’s defenses were an improvement, the Trojans have yet to field a dominant defense under Riley.
Patterson says his signature 4-2-5 defensive formation will be the basis of his schemes, but he plans to add many elements he picked up from other top defenses while studying film during his hiatus. He repeatedly mentioned his excitement about the bulk in the Trojans’ front four, saying his line will be bigger than any he had at TCU.
Patterson welcomes the chance to focus on teaching, scheming and leading his players instead of completing the myriad tasks required of a head coach. That focus will allow this grandfather to improve, to evolve – and to learn a little new slang.
“I can talk to kids a little bit different now than I could 25 years ago,” Patterson said. “Because as they say nowadays, I have a little bit better rizz.”
