After finishing 6-7 last season, changes for TCU football were to be expected and head coach Gary Patterson announced Thursday after practice that wholesale adjustments have been made on the offensive side of the ball.
With the volume of teams that run an uptempo, shotgun spread offense in the Big 12, Patterson looked to make TCU’s offense unique again.

“Texas Tech, coach Meacham at Kansas and many other schools know the signals and know how everything runs, so we revamped everything,” Patterson said.

The process of jumpstarting the offense did not all take place on Thursday but was more of a gradual process that started in the spring.

“We revamped the whole thing: from how we call things, how we signal, how line up formations and everything in between,” Patterson said.

The changes that TCU made offensively were designed to make defenses respect the Horned Frogs’ run game.

“I think there were some things we had to change to win championships, we still have pace, but you have to be able to be a power football team if you need to be,” Patterson said.

This year, the offense is looking to pressure defenses into playing closer to the line of scrimmage.

“You have to force defenses to put people in the box at the line of scrimmage, and you can do that not only by running the ball but also by how you do the passing game,” Patterson said. “Both quarterbacks can run and move around, so for us there’s going to be a lot more to the playbook than there was a year ago, even in the run game, which will stop people from teeing off on us.”

So far, the offensive adjustments have yielded a more effective Kenny Hill in practice.

“It only counts when you do it on Saturdays, so now it’s time to go do that, and when Kenny runs around, you’ll see the confidence level,” Patterson said. “In the scrimmage, Kenny threw a pick in the red zone and a year ago, he probably would’ve been done for the rest of the day, but he bounced back and took us down on a drive and scored, so he’s a lot different of a player than he was a year ago.”

Still looking for help on the offensive line

Read More