Football:
Patterson is the elder statesman of a conference with a lot of new coaching blood. They all seem to look up to him.
They are just as reverential in Stillwater. Jim Knowles was visiting with media for the first time as Oklahoma State defensive coordinator last summer, when he let slip that Patterson was one of his original inspirations.
“We brought Gary in prior to the 2000 season when I was at Western Michigan,” Knowles said. “We converted everything we did at Western Michigan to his 4-2-5 package. I learned it from him.