Wildcat football’s dramatic last-minute 35-31 victory over Tarleton and its United Athletic Conference championship did not start with several new transfers joining the team or even with the dynamic play of graduate quarterback Maverick McIvor.

Rather, this story began in 1966 in Rush Springs, Oklahoma, where Keith Patterson, barely out of diapers, watched his dad, Coach Joe Tunnell, win the state title for Rush Springs High School.

“Every Friday and/or Saturday, since I was probably 1 or 2 years old, I’ve been going to football games,” said Patterson, now in his third year as ACU’s head football coach.

This sparked a nearly several-decade journey for Patterson after high school, which led him to East Central University. He went on to play defensive back for the Tigers and was named a two-time team captain.

From there he became a grad assistant at ECU and had a few stints at a couple of high schools, as well as a few colleges. Along the road, he served as defensive coordinator at West Virginia University, Arizona State University, and, of course, Texas Tech University.

That all led to a call on a Thursday afternoon, in which Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, reached out to Patterson, inquiring about the position.

“I had already in my mind made up that I was going to go with Dan Lanning,” the head football coach at the University of Oregon, Patterson said.

“Well, I only have one question,” Patterson told Schubert at the time. “Tonight’s Thursday, and you said earlier in the conversation that y’all were going to hire a coach by this weekend. Is this a real interview?”

Schubert said it was the real deal, and the university would love to have him down to Abilene for an interview for the position. 

That Saturday, he received the offer, and on Dec. 6, 2021, ACU announced its new head football coach. 

“From high schools to FBS programs, he has a strong knowledge of and familiarity with coaches in this part of the nation, a reputation for coaching high-level defenses and tremendous postseason experience,” Schubert said.

Patterson said what had him at the door was the university’s mission statement – to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world, which would fit perfectly for his program. Indeed, Patterson said he has been trying to do his whole career.

“My whole life has been about creating champions in life. I wanted to teach people to win on and off the field,” he said.

However, change does not just happen overnight. Patterson said he always looked beyond the first couple of years on the coaching staff as the turning point season for the Wildcats.

“I’ve always pointed to year three,” Patterson said. “Changing a decade of losing requires changing the mindset of everybody in and around the program. Winning football games when circumstances get difficult – that’s a sign of players who are bought in.”

And right on queue in his third season, the Wildcats have won their first-ever conference championship in the Div. I era.

The Tarleton game was filled with players who bought into his system. Win football games when circumstances get difficult. And Patterson had the receipts:

• Northern Colorado: Down 22-21 with a 1:10 left to go. The offense drives the length of the field and kick a field goal with no time left to win, 24-22.
• Austin Peay: 35-34 with three minutes. The Wildcat defense stopped their opponents on fourth down with 1:57 left on the board. Then the offense ran the rest of the clock out to win.
• Tarleton State: Down 31-28 with 1:48 on the clock. They drive the field, score a touchdown, and then defend a Hail Mary to win the game, 35-31.

“We are winning football games when circumstances get difficult, and that’s the sign that you have kids who are bought into a championship mindset,” Patterson said.

A championship mindset that had to be relayed vertically throughout the program. In his short time at ACU so far, he has changed the offensive coordinator position three times, brought players in and out of the transfer portal, and of course, waited on the development of former Texas Tech quarterback Maverick McIvor.

“The potential with Maverick was always there,” Patterson said. “It was putting the right system and people around him to have success.” 

McIvor now leads the nation in total passing yards and is third in the nation in passing touchdowns. He has made his own history, and attributes his success to the diligent work his head coach has done to put the coordinators around him.

“[Rick Bowie] means everything to this team,” McIvor said. “He made it simple and brought me back to something I ran since 6th grade.”

The conviction to continue to make the necessary changes to win, paid off for Coach Patterson, finding the right people and coordinators to put around his star quarterback.

So what now for the KP and the Wildcats? Regarding his future, Patterson committed himself to ACU’s long-term vision but with humility and relying heavily on faith.

“I’m not a guy looking for the next job,” Patterson said. “I try to do the absolute best I can where I am. I’m going to be exactly where God plants me.”

A message to his ACU family: “I’m old, I’m not looking to leave you,” Patterson said.