CFB: Patterson gets 2-year contract extension at TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - TCU coach Gary Patterson received a two-year contract extension through 2018 after leading the Horned Frogs to a perfect season and their first BCS victory.

The new deal Friday came a week after the third-ranked Frogs completed a 13-0 season with a 21-19 victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. It was their first undefeated season since their only AP national championship in 1938.

With Michigan and Stanford among notable coaching vacancies, Patterson is staying put in Fort Worth.

"Gary Patterson is simply the best football coach in America," athletic director Chris Del Conte said. "To see a sea of purple in the stands at the Rose Bowl is a testament to what Gary and his staff have accomplished. ... He is a perfect fit for TCU."

Patterson is 98-28 in 10 seasons with the Horned Frogs and has won at least 11 games in six of the last eight seasons.

It is the third year in a row that Patterson has gotten an extension. He also had two years added to his contract last year after TCU also had an undefeated regular season before losing its first Bowl Championship Series game, to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Frogs will get one more chance to be a BCS buster during the 2011 season when they play in the Mountain West Conference for the last time. They are then moving to the Big East, which has an automatic BCS berth.

Patterson's revised deal last year included pay raises for him and his assistant coaches. The private university doesn't release financial details.

"Our administration's commitment to the goals we have in our program have enabled us to be successful and to keep pushing forward," Patterson said in a statement.

Patterson came to TCU as a defensive coordinator with coach Dennis Franchione after the 1997 season, when the Frogs were coming off a 1-10 season. Patterson was promoted when Franchione left three years later for Alabama, though the school did a national search before making that move.

"Gary Patterson is an integral part of the TCU and Fort Worth communities," chancellor Victor Boschini said.

After TCU played its final home game this season, the west side of its 80-year-old campus stadium was imploded as part of a $105 million modernization project. The Frogs are expected to play their home games there next season even though the renovation isn't scheduled to be completed until mid-2012.