Earlier in January, Gary Patterson was selected for enshrinement into the College Football Hall of Fame.
It might not be the biggest thing that happens to Patterson this month.
Several sources tell FootballScoop that Patterson is the top target for the USC defensive coordinator post on Lincoln Riley's Trojans staff. USC's top defensive role was vacated last month when D'Anton Lynn departed for his alma mater, Penn State, to run the defense for new Nittany Lions head coach Matt Campbell.
While a deal has not yet been signed, per multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, Patterson and USC have deemed the weeks-long process as "not done yet but in its final stages," per sources.
Added another source, "Not finalized." The move is trending positively for Riley and the Trojans.
Once one of college football's longest-tenured head coaches at the Football Bowls Subdivision level and the driving force in TCU's rise from Group of Five, Mountain West Conference resident to Big 12 Conference championships, Patterson amassed 181 wins atop the Horned Frogs program. He was twice named the AFCA's and the Associated Press' National Coach of the Year (2009, 2014).
Patterson's teams won six total conference championships.
But before he was TCU's head coach, Patterson was the Horned Frogs defensive coordinator -- a spot he took over after two seasons running the defense at New Mexico. He's got additional coaching stops at Navy, Utah State and Tennessee Tech, among others.
Patterson turns 66 next month the day before Valentine's Day. He has worked in special roles at the University of Texas and Baylor University since he split from TCU eight games into the 2021 season. TCU placed Patterson into the school's athletics hall of fame this past season during the Horned Frogs game against nearby rival SMU.
While Lynn helped the Trojans post a dramatic jump in scoring defense, among other categories, from the 2023 to 2024 seasons and more incremental improvements in 2025, USC will be hoping that Patterson can help the program secure a defense that can position the Trojans to be viable College Football Playoff contenders in Riley's Year 5 at the helm.
After an 11-win 2022 season, the fifth season of double-digit wins in Riley's first six years as a head coach, USC has failed to notch more than nine wins.
The Trojans allowed 34 points last season in a come-from-ahead loss at Illinois, allowed 34 in a loss at Notre Dame, 42 in a defeat at Oregon and 30 in their bowl loss to ... Patterson's old program, TCU.
USC is scheduled to open its 2026 season at home Sept. 5 against visiting Fresno State, followed by a home game a week later against Sun Belt Conference program Louisiana. The Trojans had offered to play Notre Dame in a Week Zero game on Aug. 29 to keep alive that century-plus-old rivalry, but Notre Dame declined to play the game that early in the season and with its regularly scheduled season opener the following weekend against Wisconsin at Green Bay's Lambeau Field.