Burns Names Clay Patterson Co-OC, Inside Receivers and Tight Ends Coach
1/26/2024 9:20:00 AM | Football
KENT- Kent State head football coach Kenni Burns has announced the hiring of Clay Patterson as the Flashes' new tight ends and inside wide receivers coach as well as co-offensive coordinator.
Patterson joins the #KentGRIT family from South Florida where he coached tight ends last season. He helped the Bulls finish 7-6, capped by a victory over Syracuse in the Boca Raton Bowl. Tight end Weston Wolff averaged nearly 10 yards per catch under his leadership and helped pave the way for a running attack that averaged over 180 yards per game in 2023.
Prior to his season in Tampa, Patterson was the tight ends coach at Colorado in 2022 before being promoted to interim offensive and passing game coordinator for the second half of the season. He got his first FBS gig at Minnesota, coaching tight ends from 2018-21. The Gophers enjoyed great success during his tenure in Minneapolis, going 30-16 in his four seasons including three bowl wins. Patterson coached Ko Kieft, now of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to high marks in both pass catching and blocking by Pro Football Focus.
Patterson coached prolific offenses on the junior college level before joining the Golden Gophers. He spent three seasons leading the offense at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas. In 2015, he broke the all-time yards per game record at any level of football as the Cardinals averaged a remarkable 656 yards per game. A year earlier the Cardinals set two other Junior College records for most plays (938) and total yards (7,778). In his 35 games in Athens, the Cardinals topped 50 points 23 times and averaged 54 points per game.
His work with the Cardinals led to a head coaching gig at Northeast Oklahoma A and M, his last stop before Minnesota. He went 14-8 in two seasons including the first conference title for the Norsemen since 2003. He was named conference coach of the year for his efforts and his offense averaged 525 yards of offense and 36 points per game.
Patterson also has coaching stops at Tarleton State, Texas A and M-Kingsville and Southeastern Oklahoma State where he was a wide receiver for two seasons after his graduation from Northeast Oklahoma A and M. A native of Morris, Oklahoma, he is married to the former Ashley Holt.
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