TCU football player accuses Gary Patterson of saying racial slur
A TCU football player is accusing Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson of using a racial slur.
Dylan Jordan, a redshirt freshman linebacker, wrote in a message posted to Twitter that Patterson, during Sunday’s practice, chastised him for saying a racial slur in a team meeting room. Then, on Monday morning, Jordan said “we refused to go to practice,” causing Patterson to go into the locker room to explain himself.
“We refused to go to practice this morning and [Patterson] came to the locker room and said, ‘I wasn’t calling him a [racial slur]’” Jordan wrote. “This behavior is not okay now or ever and there needs to be repercussions to these actions.”
Earlier in his message, Jordan described his experience with the football program as “really rocky” and noted that the early playing time he was “promised” during his recruitment has not come to fruition.
Below is Jordan’s full message, which contains explicit language:
I only speak the truth........ #BLM pic.twitter.com/7YpY6JvjgM
— Dylan Jordan (@thedylanjordan_) August 3, 2020
Word of apparent discontent at TCU emerged earlier Monday when Niko Small, a former defensive back for the Horned Frogs, sent out a tweet saying that Patterson “needs to make a public apology.”
“I can’t believe I was apart of a team and university that allows a person to be in a position of power and to say “[racial slur]” in front of his players. Coach P needs to make a public apology and take responsibility for what he has done and face consequences. TCU needs huge change,” Small wrote.
That tweet has since been deleted, an occurrence Small says was an accident.
I accidentally deleted my tweet but I still stand 10 toes behind what I said
— Niko 🤘🏼 (@WhatTheFreako) August 3, 2020
TCU players defend Patterson
While the TCU athletic department and Patterson have yet to comment, several TCU players have defended Patterson on Twitter, with most reiterating the point that the coach did not direct the racial slur at any of his players.
Don’t believe everything you see in the media, know the facts behind a situation before you try to make a situation public. No one was called the N word. You Twitter fingers need to be cancelled ASAP!
— TreLato (@TreTomlinson) August 3, 2020
Coach P did not call non of his players a N Word... Facts 💯
— D.Davis ⛵️ (@yodere11) August 3, 2020
People gone believe what they believe and take information they heard and ride with it. Just make sure you know what you talking bout because nobody on the team was called the N word. But the media gone do what it does don’t make no sense to explain.
— Hand Qrenade (@gwallow_12) August 3, 2020
Artayvious Lynn, a senior tight end, wrote on Twitter that Patterson told Jordan to “stop saying n-word” in meetings. When Jordan replied, “What?” that’s when Patterson said, “you’ve been saying [racial slur] in meetings,” according to Lynn.
Lynn said the word “shouldn’t be used in any form,” but was critical of Jordan for putting it out on social media. In other tweets, Lynn said the matter was discussed as a team and that there was indeed a boycott of practice, but that he was not defending Patterson. However, Lynn wanted it known that Patterson did not call a player the slur.
“People are taking it as if he said it that way,” Lynn said in response to former TCU linebacker Montrel Wilson. “We discussed it as a team and all told Coach P how we felt and that the word is unacceptable under all context.”
Several coaches have been accused of being insensitive
Patterson, 60, is entering his 20th season as TCU’s head coach. He is the latest of several college football coaches to run into issues involving racial insensitivity in recent months.
At Iowa, numerous former players spoke out about the culture of Kirk Ferentz’s program, especially the way Black players are treated. Those statements resulted in the removal of strength coach Chris Doyle and an investigation into the program where Black players felt “feeling unhappy and unwelcome” and the need to conform to the mold of a player that was “built around the stereotype of a clean-cut, white athlete from a midwestern background.”
In June, former Clemson tight end D.J. Greenlee said assistant coach Danny Pearman repeated a racial slur during practice three years ago. Pearman apologized. At West Virginia, the school agreed to part ways with defensive coordinator Vic Koenning after a player accused him of mistreatment and making insensitive comments.
At Oklahoma State, head coach Mike Gundy was investigated after coming under fire for wearing the T-shirt of a far-right network that frequently pushes conspiracy theories. Gundy was called out by multiple players, including star running back Chuba Hubbard.
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