Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and TCU head coach Gary Patterson engaged in an indirect war of words over Mayfield's non-existent scholarship offer at TCU.
"TCU," he (Mayfield) replied without hesitation. "They told me they were gonna offer me a scholarship and kind of drug it out, and I told other schools I wasn't interested because I thought I was going to go there, and I truly believed they were going to offer me because they told me that. They disappointed me and kind of hung me out to dry right before signing day."
There's other history between Mayfield and TCU. Mayfield sat out the 2014 season at Oklahoma. When the Sooners played TCU that season, Patterson and Horned Frogs quarterback Trevone Boykin said Mayfield was able to steal signals from the Oklahoma sideline. This season, TCU linebacker Ty Summers was ejected for targeting Mayfield on a play that caused the quarterback to leave the game with a concussion.
Patterson responded to Bonnie Bernstein about Mayfield's claim.
Asked Sooners' walk-on sensation Baker Mayfield today which school disappointed him most for not offering him a...
Posted by Bonnie Bernstein on Monday, December 28, 2015
This back-and-forth flies in the face of the usual keep-it-in-house culture of college football.
Comments
Baker is probably being a little too open and sore about this considering it happened a few years ago but I was pretty shocked that Gary Patterson responded in that way. It wasn't overly immature but it didn't rub me the right way, no need to respond to it like that.
I thought it was pretty strange too, Im not surprised by Mayfield's comments nearly as much as I have been by Patterson's.
Patterson's Qoute:
I am SURE these entitled parents and kids must be just exhausting to deal with, but I thought it was a little poor taste for a Coach to call the kid and his family out like that. I dont know if its a situation the Coach really needs to retaliate to, I dont know, Im just kind of shocked he didnt reply with something typcial like: "You know these things happen all the time and we decided to go in a different direction...blah blah something"
Exactly. Texas A&M just went through a similar situation with Kyler and Kevin Murray (dad) and Kevin Sumlin wasn't putting the kid and his family on blast through direct quotes. People around the program were talking about it, but Sumlin wasn't calling young men out. Interestingly enough, Kyler also landed at OU.
Additionally, grown men shouldn't be sparring with kids 20 years their junior over social media. If your response is even slightly harsh it makes you look immature.
Good point, its honestly, one of the stranger things in college football this year. Im not saying if I were an athlete or their parents that I would pull anything near decommitting, but I would have to say there have been some raised eye-brows in that committment pool.
Im sure there is some more to the story or something, its just wild. Im sure the reporters eyes were all just glowing when he made all those comments ha.
I find it rather refreshing when people speak their minds. There are too many people that try to put up a facade of political correctness. My question is why? The truth will be revealed at some point and it's always worse to be a fraud than an asshole. He's a good coach, has completely built that program into what they are. If he see's something that's walking and quacking like a duck he calls it what it is. I'm a big fan of that kind of thing.
Normally I'm of your opinion, but I think there's something wrong about a coach (who makes millions a year) publicly criticizing an amateur athlete and taking (unnecessary) shots at his family. Maybe his family is privileged, and it's a shame if they're rude people, but I just think Gary's comment was out of bounds. Even if Gary said 'Mayfield brought with him some baggage that we didn't want to deal with', I think that would've been fine. Calling his dad arrogant was where it went wrong.
That being said, I don't think his comments are that big of a deal.
This is a "the customer is always right" scenario. The coaching staff has to eat it with a smile. The recruits are always "right".
I think a place should be reserved in heaven for those that handle that without smacking somebody.
Great episode. That lady is the definition of clueless and bitchy
I like how she looks completely incredulous after Ramsey's comment.
Think of the Craig James deal and his kid wasn't even competitive at the D1 level. I kind of appreciate Patterson's no bs response.
His kid may not have been great, but he didn't deserve to be closed in a telecommunications closet.
I am not buying into all of that BS. How many kids were on that roster that had a parent that was a lead commentator on ESPN? Coach a youth team ( I have) and you will see how some parents really are crazy when it comes to any sport.
I'm sure the kid (and parent) had too much attitude, but then again, so did Mike Leach.
Without a doubt which really turned it into a comedy yet a poor demonstration of class in the CFB world.
Its not about deserving, its about concussion protocol. First response to a concussion is put them in a dark room and make sure the individual doesn't go to sleep. There may have been a better option, but it certainly wasn't a punishment.
locked in a closet? you need to get caught up on that situation...
Yeah and they suspended Mark Schlabach for his accurate reporting on the situation and that made daddy unhappy and he turned ESPN against Mark. That went about as poorly for ESPN as any decision they have ever made as every reputable network and colleague within the industry came to Schlabach's support and they quickly reversed his suspension.
They also fired Bruce Feldman for accurately reporting how shitty they were being. A very very black eye for ESPN reporting, and one of the main reasons I don't look to them for any college football information beyond scores.
That Feldman/ESPN breakup was BAD too. He breaks a good deal of news in the CFB world and they refused to acknowledge him every time. He finally got on Sportscenter or the new SVP midnight show just recently... to talk football I think with SVP. It was damn entertaining though.
locked in a closet? you need to get caught up on that situation...
From the comments coming from both sides, I don't think either distinguished themselves.
When I first read this, it sounded like Patterson and Boykin were accusing Mayfield of stealing signals from his own team.
This isn't a good time for media distraction.
Mayfield better be prepping for the big game, not thinking about how to work the press.
Remember Corey Moore. "Are you guys going to win it for us?"
..
You guys aren't going to win for us. You guys can write your little stories you like to write... You want to write a story? Write about how I dissed you guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDMjaK3DcKE
I love his intensity in that interview.
This interview should be required viewing for every Virginia Tech athlete competing in the post season.
Might save them having to go home on the bus. The media and travel are just distractions when you're playing in a big game.
I think most hs kids should see it. But def agree on VT athletes!
Hate to admit it, that was the first time I've seen that interview. I did chuckle though. Corey Moore needed Marshawn Lynch's publicist that day.
Man. Somebody needs to send this to Berman for literally throwing a hissy fit on Twitter because Buzz decided to have a team meeting after the WVU game and before conference play.
When is the Roanoke Times going to find a replacement for him? Do they not see his Twitter account? This is just one in a long line of ridiculous, baby tantrums.
It's bad. I went back and read his live-tweets from the game and obviously Tech didn't play well at all, but he was just roasting the team over and over and over. Really seemed to be enjoying it.
Then Bitter chimed in and said that "professional courtesy" is "something that every coach in the country understands except Buzz."
Honestly, I like the coach's response. If a kid feels the need to drag a coach and a program's name through the mud to make himself feel better, it deserves a response like what he got. Now I will say, there was no need for Patterson to bring up family members in the response.
I bet Bob Stoops chuckles when he first reads that line about Baker's dad.
"Heh-heh... Yeah"
How was he able to steal signals if he never attended TCU? If this is possible then anyone can steal signals.
From the Twitter post provided by the OP.
Mayfield really does come off as arrogant (even before this incident) and I always give benefit of the doubt to student athletes.
Steph Curry played it down as much as possible publicly and looked classy as can be in the process. This is the type of stuff you talk about after you have a ring, or a successful professional career. I don't see Baker getting either.