Gary Patterson is headed to Southern California.
USC is expected to finalize a deal with Patterson to make him the program’s next defensive coordinator in the near future, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. It marks Patterson’s first step back to the sidelines in a top role since he was fired from TCU during the 2021 campaign.
Patterson spent 22 seasons with the Horned Frogs, and was the second-longest-tenured head coach in the sport when he was fired during the 2021 season. He trailed only Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who has been with the Hawkeyes since 1999.
Patterson turned the Horned Frogs into a football powerhouse, first in both CUSA and the MWC before the program made the jump to the Big 12 in 2012. Patterson finished with a 181-79 record, which made him the winningest head coach in school history, and frequently had the Horned Frogs in the national conversation. They won the Rose Bowl in 2010 over Wisconsin, too. But the school fired Patterson midway through the 2021 campaign, which marked their third straight without reaching a bowl game.
Patterson has since spent time as a special assistant at Texas and a consultant with Baylor, though he left that job ahead of the 2024 season.
The 65-year-old will now join Lincoln Riley at USC, where he’ll replace D’Anton Lynn as the Trojans’ defensive coordinator. Lynn left last month to join Matt Campbell’s staff at Penn State in the same role after two seasons. The team gave up fewer points per game in each of the past two seasons under Lynn’s leadership, but struggled badly on that side of the ball in each of their three road losses that eventually knocked them out of the College Football Playoff conversation. The Trojans went 9-4 last season after falling to TCU in overtime at the Alamo Bowl.
While he’s not in charge of a program anymore, and it’s unclear if he wants to do that again, Patterson is back running a defense after several years away. A fresh, veteran presence there should undoubtedly help Riley as he enters his fifth season with the Trojans.
