After the football team’s third practice of the spring on Tuesday afternoon, TCU head coach Gary Patterson spoke with the media on a variety of topics.
Patterson announced earlier in the day that Kenny Perry would take over as cornerbacks coach for the team.
“It was [Perry’s] to lose,” Patterson said. “He’s already made a big impact recruiting-wise.”
Perry replaces Clay Jennings who left for a defensive backs coaching position at Arkansas.
“Coach Jennings did an unbelievable job in his six years,” Patterson said. “[Perry] will be the next in line.”
Patterson praised how his current starting cornerbacks, senior Kevin White and redshirt freshman Ranthony Texada, have performed in practice so far.
“Both Ranthony and Kevin White, right now, I’m very happy with,” Patterson said. “We gotta keep getting better but we got four or five defensive backs coming in the fall.”
When questioned about the possibility of a spring game, TCU’s all-time leader in career wins gave a similar answer to past years: the team will have a scrimmage in some capacity.
“We’ll have a scrimmage on [April 5th], of some sort,” Patterson said.
Patterson added that it’s mainly for recruiting purposes and there won’t be any cameras. He didn’t mention whether or not it would be open to the public.
“I watch everybody else’s spring game on TV and break ‘em down,” Patterson said. “Somebody’s not doing it to me.”
Patterson also mentioned that junior Jordan Moore has moved to wide receiver.
“That’s the only move right now,” Patterson said. “We’re just short on wide receivers. You don’t have three guys, should be seniors, out here.”
Patterson said the lack of depth at the position is a reason for practicing both Moore and sophomore Deante Gray at receiver.
“Right now, Cam White’s not here, LaDarius Brown’s not here and Brandon Carter’s not here,” Patterson said. “That’s hard to fill that role in one recruiting class.”
Moore has now played four positions in his time as a Frog: safety, linebacker, tailback and wide receiver. The two-sport athlete also won the Big 12 Championship in the 60-meter hurdles last weekend.
When asked about the proposed “Saban Rule,” which would prevent offenses from snapping the ball within 10 seconds of the start of the 40-second play clock, Patterson was open about his opinion.
“I voted that it not pass,” Patterson said. “Not because I’m a defensive-minded guy because we went to a hurry-up. Because the way the league presented it wasn’t a good way to present it so why should you?”
Patterson said he was concerned about officiating more than anything.
“We’ve got to be able to, as a group, officiate a ballgame,” Patterson said. “It can’t be we’re snapping the ball before the chains are set. Right now, it’s going so fast that we’ve got offensive linemen and wide receivers and everybody moving before the ball’s snapped but we can’t call it because we’re going so fast.”
“We’ve gotta be able to play the way it’s supposed to be played,” Patterson said. “And if it’s fast, it’s great.”
The Frogs are currently in a three-day learning period while working on implementing a new up-tempo offense from new co-offensive coordinators Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie.
“They all know that it’s a learning process,” Patterson said.
The team is expected to scrimmage on Thursday and repeat the three-day cycle for the rest of spring.
“They go in three-day cycles,” Patterson said. “They basically teach this offense in three days, so this was the third day. On Thursday, they won’t teach anything new. They’ll tweak it and we’ll scrimmage.”
Ultimately, Patterson understands that the struggles of last year need to be fixed and that there’s nothing to be said that can change that.
“I’m not gonna say that much positive,” Patterson said. “We don’t need to talk about anything. If they pick us sixth, that’s fine with me. For me, it’s all about who we are.”
TCU finished last season with a 4-8 record despite owning the Big 12’s top rushing offense, according to the Big 12’s website.
“You gotta have players on both sides of the ball,” Patterson said.
TCU has 12 practices left in spring ball. They’re expected to begin their 2014-15 campaign against Samford on Aug. 30 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
