How much has changed in the past 12 months for the TCU football program? In appearances, quite a bit. Battling back from 4-8 to finish the season ranked No. 3 doesn’t happen often, even in the dramatic world of college football

But for practical purposes, nothing has really changed, said Horned Frog players as they prepared to kick off summer camp.

“This is the most chemistry we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Jaden Oberkrom

Senior running back Aaron Green said “not one” team member is discussing TCU’s No. 2 national preseason ranking. He noted that among this year’s class of 26 seniors, 17 played as true freshmen. “We’re a very mature team,” he said. “We started from the bottom, and we know what it takes to be at the top. We’ve seen each other struggle. We’ve seen each other win.”

The year’s team motto may be “Prove Them Right,” but no one wants to dust any disrespect off the ole’ shoulders just yet.

“We’re going in with the same mindset. We’re still being hunted,” said Josh Carraway, junior defensive end.

The guys need to keep improving through two-a-days before they can think about who will be playing hunter and who prey. Last year’s 12 wins no longer count, said offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai. “We haven’t done anything this year yet.”

Mike Tuaua is a big believer in team chemistry. (photo courtesy of TCU Athletics)

Achieving renewed success will require setting a solid foundation with the right frame of mind, Carraway said. During the summer, his defensive line unit voluntarily met three times a week to study game film. Vaitai mentioned the offensive line’s collective dedication to the offseason weight-training regimen.

“This is the most chemistry we’ve had since I’ve been here,” kicker Jaden Oberkrom said.

Off-field harmony is a positive indicator, but “One question mark is just seeing how well we are going to play together,” defensive end Mike Tuaua said.

“We started from the bottom, and we know what it takes to be at the top. We’ve seen each other struggle. We’ve seen each other win.”
Aaron Green

Another concerns how the team will handle success. The 2015 seniors lived through the various off-the-field distractions surrounding TCU’s post-Rose Bowl entry into the Big 12. When Tuaua arrived in Fort Worth, he said he was on a team splintered into cliques. He has since helped unify the troops and wants chemistry-building to be part of his legacy, “so the younger kids see that we’re family.”

Others in the soon-to-graduate class said they are also thinking about the future of the program: the young guys who will replace them. “The seniors are placing them under our wings, showing them the right way … being humble and patient, being positive,” Green said.

Patience is a virtue Patterson, now in his 15th year as head coach, has learned. “You get a little different perspective on all of it as you get older.”

Lifelong Frog fan and wide receiver Josh Doctson witnessed his coach’s climb up the mountain. “TCU’s always been a team, an organization, that’s worked hard regardless of the outcomes,” he said.

Doctson, by virtue of his purple blood, can step back and appreciate the years of sweat equity required to lead TCU into college football’s limelight. Entering a season as Big 12 favorites and one of the top two teams in the country would have been an unthinkable scenario a decade ago. Even if Doctson plans to keep his head down and tackle one game at a time, he understands that the view from the here and now is pretty spectacular. “I can’t stop smiling,” he said.