Patterson Receives George Munger Award
12/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 15, 2009
SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. -- Maxwell Football Club President Ron Jaworski has announced TCU's Gary Patterson as the 2009 recipient of the George Munger Award, recognizing college football's National Coach of the Year.
Patterson has led the third-ranked Horned Frogs to a 12-0 record and their first BCS appearance, a Jan. 4 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl date with No. 6 Boise State (13-0). TCU has its first undefeated regular season since its 1938 national championship team.
The 2009 Horned Frogs have just 13 seniors on the roster with only six in the starting lineup.
TCU is the only team in the nation to rank in the top 10 in both offense and defense. The Horned Frogs are No. 1 in defense for the fourth time in the last 10 seasons, allowing just 233.3 yards per game. TCU is fourth in offense at 469.1 yards each contest. The Horned Frogs have set single-season school records for points scored (488) and total offense (5,629 yards).
Patterson's 85-27 (.759) record is the best mark of the four coaches at TCU to be on the sideline for at least 100 games. Patterson's 85 wins are second on the Frogs' career victory list, trailing only Dutch Meyer (109-79-13, .575). Meyer coached TCU to its 1935 and 1938 national championships.
Patterson's .759 winning percentage is second among TCU coaches with more than 20 games under their belt and fifth among active coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Frogs have won five conference titles with Patterson on staff in addition to posting seven of the school's 11 10-win seasons. He was TCU's defensive coordinator from 1998-00.
During his 12 years on campus, Patterson has seen TCU make 11 bowl appearances. With a 17-16 victory over No. 9 Boise State in the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl, Patterson has led the Frogs to four straight bowl victories for the first time in school history. TCU is one of just seven schools nationally to have a current bowl winning streak of at least four in a row.
TCU is 7-3 in bowl games with Patterson on its coaching staff and 5-3 with him as head coach. Prior to Patterson's arrival on campus in 1998, the Frogs had just four bowl wins in their history.
The Frogs are 13-3 in their last 16 games against teams from leagues with automatic BCS bids, including a 5-2 mark versus the Big 12 the past five seasons.
The Frogs were fourth in the final BCS standings this season, marking the highest appearance ever by a team from a non-automatic qualifying conference. TCU has appeared in the BCS standings 36 times, trailing only Boise State (42) for the most among schools from a non-automatic qualifying conference.
In nine seasons as a head coach, Patterson has coached 113 All-Conference selections, seven All-Americans, 12 Freshman All-Americans and one Academic All-American.
In four of its first five seasons in the Mountain West, TCU has set the pace on the all-conference teams. The Frogs had a school-record 20 selections in 2009, 18 in 2005 and 2008, 14 in 2006 and 11 in 2007.
As TCU's head coach, Patterson has had 21 players drafted with a total of 41 in NFL camps.
