TCU’s Gary Patterson warns boosters of SEC schools poaching his players with NIL deals

Gary Patterson has been the head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs for over twenty years. Entering a new era of college football with NIL deals, he delivered a stern message to boosters regarding the change.

“The rules have changed,” said Patterson via Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “There is no wrong anymore.”

By his statement, Patterson is addressing the uphill battle TCU faces in competing with college football elites due to new rules regarding name, image and likeness — otherwise known as NIL. Moreover, Patterson mentions that the possibility of losing players to bigger programs looms like a black cloud over TCU.

“There’s five SEC schools calling him and telling him, ‘Here’s what we’ll give you if you come here and not stay at TCU,’” Patterson said of an unidentified player. “At the end of the day, that’s just real life. If we don’t do anything about it, within a year we lose him.”

Moreover, Patterson stated that his concern level is more about what he described as the “98%” rather than the “2%” that are signing seven-figure deals. While a majority of college athletes are not going to reach the pro level, earning as much as possible during their college years has now become priority number one.

“Five-thousand dollars to someone who has dirt on their floors is a lot of money,” Patterson added.

Additionally, Patterson said that at the end of the day the responsibility falls on local businesses and supporters. In this new era, they have to embrace and support the Horned Frogs athletes more than ever.

Patterson: ‘We planted the trees. Now we have to water ‘em.’

Furthermore, TCU is doing what they can to improve their NIL program. First, the school partnered with Opendorse, a company that specializes in educating student-athletes on building their own personal brand and marketability. Also, the athletics department and the business school have also partnered to increase the NIL program.

“We planted the trees. Now we have to water ‘em,” Patterson said. “I hear, ‘Well, I don’t want to get dirty. It feels dirty. I don’t know the rules.’ Let me just say, you guys know me, I’m just going to tell the truth — the bottom line to it is I can lose 25-30 guys on scholarships by January.”

As Patterson pulls no punches, he keeps it real about what TCU has to do to maintain their success.

“It takes more to stay where we’re at than it took to get here,” Patterson added. “We’ve done a lot to get here, but if you want to play at a very high level, what you have to understand is we’re going to have to do some things to make sure that we stay and keep growing. 

“At the end of the day, what does that entail? We’re going to have learn but we’re going to learn it a lot faster than what everybody right now is willing to do.”

Everybody in college football is dealing with a new era due to NIL. However, Patterson and TCU will have to find new ways to try to fend off the elites from their recruits.