James Edwin "Gravy" Patterson Jr., also known as Pat Patterson, (March 26, 1934 – October 11, 2007) was an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

coach. He served as the head baseball coach at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 percent ...

from 1968 to 1990, compiling a record of 741–462–2 record. Patterson produced 18 winning seasons in 23 years, and his teams won 40 or more games in five of those years. He was Southland Conference Coach of the Year seven times. In retirement, he often returned as an interim coach. Seven of Patterson's players, including

Mike Jeffcoat James Michael Jeffcoat (born August 3, 1959), is an American former professional baseball player and also a former coach who pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 1985, 1987 to 1992, and 1994. He played college baseball for Louisiana ...

Phil Hiatt Phillip Farrell Hiatt (; born May 1, 1969) is a retired Major League Baseball utility player. Hiatt played college baseball at Louisiana Tech University. Hiatt played for three different major league ball clubs during his career: the Kansas City ...

, and

David Segui David Vincent Segui, (; born July 19, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman. Segui was born in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of former Major League baseball pitcher Diego Seguí. He played collegiate baseball for Louisia ...

, reached the majors.

Education

Patterson was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Richland Parish Richland Parish is a parish located in the North Louisiana Delta Country in the U.S. state of Louisiana, known for its fertile, flat farmland, cane brakes, and open spaces. The name Richland was chosen due to the rich production from farming. Th ...

in northeastern Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana Tech in 1958, playing football and baseball under legendary Bulldog coaches

Joe Aillet Joseph Roguet Aillet (born Joseph Fuourka, September 13, 1904 – December 28, 1971) was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University from 1940 t ...

and Berry Hinton. He earned four football letters and two baseball letters and went on to earn his

master’s degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

("Ole Miss") in 1961.

Coaching career

He began his coaching career in 1958 at

Ouachita Parish High School Ouachita Parish High School is a high school located in unincorporated Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States, near Monroe. It is administrated by the Ouachita Parish School Board. It is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleg ...

in Monroe and took a job at C.E. Byrd High School in

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

in 1963 before he joined the Louisiana Tech athletic department in 1967 as an assistant football coach. Patterson would serve as both assistant football- and head baseball coach at Tech from 1968 to 1978 and as head baseball coach only until 1990. He subsequently oversaw one more football game, having served as interim coach in 1979, when the Bulldogs posted a 13-10 win over local rival

Northeast Louisiana University The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...

, now known as the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...

, in his only game as head coach. As head coach, Patterson was named the District VI Coach of the Year in 1974. He led Louisiana Tech to seven

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Tournament appearances during his coaching tenure, the last in 1987. In 1974, Patterson led the Bulldogs to within one game from the College World Series. Patterson served for several years as Tech’s associate athletic director following his retirement in 1990. In that capacity, he oversaw the eligibility of athletes and monitored NCAA compliance. On three occasions, he was asked to step in as the university’s interim athletic director. He is a member of the

Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame The Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1984 to honor student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and benefactors who have been highly successful at Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tec ...

. A large poster of Patterson hangs on the outfield wall of Louisiana Tech's baseball stadium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Pat 1934 births 2007 suicides 2007 deaths Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball coaches Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football coaches Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players High school football coaches in Louisiana University of Mississippi alumni People from Delhi, Louisiana Coaches of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana Baseball coaches from Louisiana Baseball players from Louisiana 2007 murders in the United States Murder–suicides in Louisiana Suicides by firearm in Louisiana American United Methodists 20th-century Methodists 21st-century Methodists