Gary Patterson had talked about this possibility with Lincoln Riley a few years ago.
What might a team look like pairing Riley’s rocket-fueled offense with Patterson’s rugged defense?
USC will find out in late August after Riley made the former longtime TCU coach his defensive coordinator and most consequential hire as part of the Trojans’ bid to finally make the College Football Playoff.
“Really,” Patterson said Wednesday during an introductory news conference, “our goal here is to teach the defense to try to get it to the level that the offense has played here.”
But Riley knows from his time coaching against Patterson’s defenses in the Big 12 how they might complete his team.
“There was never anybody who was more of a pain to game-plan for and try to figure out how to move the ball against,” Riley said, “than this guy.”
It might feel like a slightly unorthodox move, Riley selecting a defensive savant who will turn 66 next month. Patterson has been out of full-time coaching since resigning as TCU’s coach in October 2021.
Defense has been the biggest issue for Riley in his four seasons at USC, the side of the ball that almost always led to disappointment. Patterson acknowledged the need for a quick fix as he tries to elevate USC’s defense in a way that predecessors D’Anton Lynn and Alex Grinch could not.
“There’s no patience here,” Patterson said. “Our job is to come in and coach has been here for a little bit, and we need to make a difference.”
Known as a top architect of the 4-2-5 defense, Patterson said what he runs at USC will be forged on the fly. It will be based on the opponent, the strengths of his personnel and concepts he learned in recent years as a special assistant at Texas and an analyst at Baylor. He also mentioned being impressed by Indiana’s attacking defense while watching plenty of college football.
“Not necessarily,” he said, “are you going to probably see all Gary Patterson defense.”
Patterson joked that he could defer all difficult questions to Riley since he was no longer a head coach. His TCU resignation came after a historic 22-season run that made him the winningest coach in school history. His teams led the nation in total defense five times.
But can Patterson still coach at a high level in 2026?
“I love the game, I have an energy for the game,” Patterson said, “and if I didn’t think we could do it and be where we needed to be I wouldn’t be here.”
One of the reasons Trojans fans had to wait for a Riley-Patterson pairing was a waiting period for the College Football Hall of Fame. Patterson said he had to be out of coaching for three years to qualify for the sport’s greatest honor. He’ll be inducted later this year.
With that out of the way, Patterson happily fielded a text from Riley after Lynn’s recent departure to become defensive coordinator at Penn State, his alma mater. Remembering that his greatest success at TCU came during a stretch from 2008-11 when the offense hummed and the program went a combined 47-5, Patterson agreed to try to engineer a similar winning combination at USC.
A brutal schedule that includes games against Washington, Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana and Penn State energized Patterson, reflecting the conviction of a coach who believes he’s still got a few great seasons in him.
“The goal is to be undefeated in the regular season,” Patterson said. “No matter what we do, if you hold them to one less [point] 12 times, I think everybody’s going to be happy.”
