PurpleMenace.com - Pachall to withdraw from TCU, enter care facility

October 9, 2012

Ryan Osborne
PurpleMenace.com Publisher

Gary Patterson knew the situation couldn't be dodged - Casey Pachall had to go all the way.

"It got to a point, where there was no way to do this half way to change [Pachall's] life," the Horned Frogs' head coach said of his star quarterback Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "We had to make a strong decision, and this is where it is."

Pachall, who was arrested early Thursday morning on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, will voluntarily withdraw from the university this semester and enter an inpatient care facility. The Brownwood native "may already" be at the rehab center, where he'll likely stay 30-60 days, Patterson said.

Pachall will have a chance to return to school and to the football team.

"Hopefully, our plan is that he gets himself right and keeps the door open for us to come back and enroll in the spring," Patterson said.

For now, the concern is much deeper than football, Patterson said.

"We're talking about saving somebody's life," said Patterson who announced Tuesday he and his wife, Kelsey, have pledged $100,000 to an on-campus drug and alcohol recovery group.

Patterson put "a lot of thought" into the situation and talked extensively with Pachall, Pachall's parents and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte, he said.

"There was only one way we were going to be able to change the path that he was on," Patterson said. "He just needed to step away from it all."

Patterson met with TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini on Sunday.

"We just discussed it," Patterson said of his meeting with Boschini. "It wasn't, 'you had to do this.' We decided what would be best for the university, for Casey Pachall, for this football team, and more importantly for Casey Pachall the person."

On the field, the Frogs are coming off a 37-23 loss to Iowa State, a game in which the offense struggled at times without Pachall. Trevone Boykin, who started against the Cyclones, threw three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

This week, TCU faces a Baylor team that lost two weeks ago to No. 5 West Virginia but managed to put up 63 points on the Mountaineers. Needless to say, the Frogs' offense might have a few kinks to work out before what could become a shootout with the Bears similar to last year's 50-48 contest.

Patterson said he thinks the news of Pachall departure could help his team since it would bring some sense of closure -- at least for this season -- to the situation. Against the Cyclones, the Frogs had just two days to adjust to Pachall not playing in addition to still wondering who would quarterback the team the rest of the year.

"I think it helps for them to move on," Patterson said. "There's no lingering. Trevone [Boykin] and Matt Brown are going to be our guys. That's who we're going to win with at quarterback. This closes the door, and now they know this is how they've got to go do it."

Patterson said the team's mindset will be the same as it was before Pachall came to the program: Go win.

"We're still going to try to win football games," Patterson said. "We won them before Casey Pachall was the quarterback, and we're going to win them after Casey Pachall is the quarterback."

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