In mid-July, TCU coach Gary Patterson sat in an ESPN conference room discussing the College Football Playoff and how hard it will be for selection committee members to hide their biases. He listed several comparable examples.
"I haven't been around an assistant coach yet whose wife didn't think he was the reason why we won," Patterson said with a chuckle.
Three months later, no one would argue with Kendall Meacham and Tamra Cumbie. Their husbands, TCU co-offensive coordinators Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie, have transformed one of the Big 12's weakest offenses into one of the nation's strongest in their first season on Patterson's staff.
TCU is averaging 192.9 more yards and 20.1 more points than it did in 2013, the biggest one-year jumps for any FBS team this season. The Frogs are fifth nationally in scoring (45.2 PPG) and seventh in yards (537.7 YPG), and quarterback Trevone Boykin leads the Big 12 and ranks fourth nationally in total offense (369.8 YPG).
The philosophical change from a traditional offense to the fast-paced spread has TCU in the top 10 and in contention for a coveted playoff spot. There hasn't been a more significant coaching change in the Big 12.
"I don't think [there's a bigger change] in the country, how far they've come offensively," said Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, whose team visits TCU on Saturday. "It's been incredible."
Patterson's hiring of Meacham and Cumbie is the nation's most significant coaching change (non-head-coach category) of the season. Inside Access explored it and other moves that are paying off.