Dunn named interim coach
By Crystal Forester
Staff Reporter

Interim cornerbacks football coach, Kasey Dunn, will temporarily replace suspended coach Willie Mack Garza, head coach Gary Patterson said Tuesday.

Dunn was hired last week to fill Garza’s shoes and joins a staff he is familiar with, Patterson said.

Garza was arrested Sept. 20 on suspicion of failure to stop and render aid with bodily injury and with driving while intoxicated (DWI). The case has been sent to the district attorney’s office, Forest Hill Police Department Sgt. Sharon Sexton said.

Dunn coached with Patterson while he was at New Mexico State and has also coached with Washington State, Alabama and the Seattle Seahawks.

Patterson did not know Dunn was available to coach until Dunn called him, he said.

“It was unfair to the football team to have only eight position coaches when they needed nine,” Patterson said.

Patterson said Dunn was only at TCU to coach football and would not let him comment on the situation. Dunn understands the circumstances he is coming in to, he said.

“He knows what we do and what his role will be,” Patterson said.

Athletics Media Relations Director Steve Fink said Patterson is waiting for the legal process to take its course before making a decision about Garza. In the meantime, Garza is suspended with pay.

Garza’s case was filed as a felony and is pending a grand jury review that could take until mid-December to decide, Assistant District Attorney Curtis Stallins said.

“Cases like this are very fact sensitive and not uncommon to be reduced to a misdemeanor,” Stallins said.

Garza was driving westbound in the 3500 block of Southeast Loop 820 when he hit a retaining wall and crashed into another car, Sexton said. The woman hit in the accident was taken to a local hospital, treated and released, she said.

TCU cornerbacks Mark Walkers and Tyrone Sanders both said there is no difference between the coaching styles or skills of Garza and Dunn.

“It’s definitely not a step backward, we are going forward,” Walker said. “(Dunn is) enthusiastic and pushes us through.”

Sanders said Dunn is still learning about the TCU defense and cornerbacks.
“He’s a great coach and gets us hyped up,” Sanders said.

Dunn is just playing a role on the football field while Garza is gone and the cornerbacks are playing just as well as they were before, Patterson said.

“I had to do what is best for the team,” Patterson said. “I was not able to be the head coach because I was coaching the cornerbacks.”

Fink said Dunn and Patterson know each other’s styles from working together previously at New Mexico State.

Patterson said Dunn is someone that he can trust to coach and know the philosophy of the system.

“This is a blessing in disguise,” Patterson said. “It’s hard to get someone this far into the season.”

Staff reporter John Ashley Menzies contributed to this report.