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San Marcos Academy head coach Les Davis worried that Bryce Patterson wouldn’t stay.
The junior quarterback had transferred to the school too late. TAPPS wouldn’t allow him to play for the Bears in the 2018 season.
Davis figured Patterson would want to spend his time somewhere else. Instead, Patterson asked if he could still practice with the team.
“I said, ‘You bet,’” Davis said. “So he went out there and he ran our scout team for us and he threw for secondary drills and did all those things that you can ask for from somebody and never missed a day. He's got a chance to be special. That's leadership right there.”
Patterson finally took the field for the Bears this season, throwing for 840 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for another 626 yards and eight scores. SMA went 6-4 in the regular season and made their first playoff appearance since 2015 with Patterson under center.
The quarterback, who grew up a Texas A&M fan, always had a dream of playing college football. In the summer of 2018, Patterson looked into Texas Lutheran University as a possible destination.
“I loved the campus, the coaches were awesome,” Patterson said. “And just within the last year, the connection with me and the coaches just started getting a lot stronger. I went on a game day visit and, just like I said, I really started getting to interact with the coaches.”
As Patterson’s relationship with the Bulldogs coaches grew stronger, he suggested they look into his teammate, Gordon Murphy.
Murphy had attended SMA since middle school and led the Bears with 160 total tackles in 2019, including 20.5 for a loss. He loved football, but never considered he’d have the chance to play at the next level until Patterson told him TLU was interested.
“When I realized that I had the opportunity to play for four more years, I was all about it. I realized that I could, and so I wanted to do everything that I could to actually be able to. Because I love the sport, I love the bond that you create with your teammates,” Murphy said. “And probably about the time that Bryce started talking to me about TLU and playing for them was when I was like, ‘Well, I kind of do want to play.’”
In early December, TLU head coach Ricky Matt met with both Patterson and Murphy offer them both a spot on the Bulldogs’ roster.
On Wednesday, the Bears signed their letters of intent.
“It's kind of still setting in,” Murphy said. “I mean, if you asked me a year ago if I'd be here, I probably would have said you were crazy. But I'm really excited to be here.”
“This is something that I've been waiting a really long time for,” Patterson said. “I mean, I've been preparing to go play college football pretty much my entire life. And so I just want to give thanks to parents, family, coaches and the TLU coaches for giving me and Gordon this opportunity that's just a once in a lifetime thing. And we're both very appreciative for it.”
Both players received academic scholarships. The two plan to room together next semester.
Davis expects both will buy into the program.
“They both want to succeed. And that's the same thing they're going to carry in whatever they decide to do in life,” Davis said. “Because neither one of them are particularly big bodies or, you know — but they're just great kids.”
