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It seems as if Warde Manuel has exacted a measure of revenge on the "Quinn Reaper" for his destruction of UConn earlier this season. The UConn Huskies and their new coach Bob Diaco have poached UB Quarterbacks Coach Don Patterson.
Sources: UConn Football To Add Four To Staff - Hartford Courant
Don Patterson, who spent the past three seasons as quarterbacks coach at Buffalo, turning the tide at the position the past two seasons, will be an associate head coach to Diaco and will also handle the quarterback coaching responsibilities.
Patterson came to UB after the 2010 season, before then he had been a head coach at the Football Championship Series (FCS) level with Western Illinois. Patterson spent 10 seasons at Western Illinois, compiling a 62-45 overall record before illness forced him to step away from coaching for a year.
His roots go back to Iowa and iconic head coach Hayden Fry. His 20 years there puts him on a coaching tree with Bret Bielema, Kirk Ferentz, and Bob and Mike Stoops.
Patterson was on the market after being forced out at Western Illinois. Exactly why he was forced out is a matter of disagreement between Patterson and the Athletics Director at WIU.
After battling back from cancer Patterson was ready to step back into his head coaching job at WIU, until the university released a press statement saying that he was stepping down for health reasons. Patterson claims the discussion with AD Dr. Tim Van Alstine about his health was nothing more than Van Alstine looking for an excuse.
Among the AD's claims was that players had approached him about changing coaches, something that Patterson and many of the players who have since graduated deny. In fact most players have praised Patterson.
"From a player perspective you always have your coach's back, No matter if you go 10-1 or 1-10, whatever your record is, you always have your coach's back, we loved Coach P." -- Former WIU Fullback Sam Dancer
At Buffalo Patterson helped to develop Joe Licata into one of the best quarterbacks of the modern UB era. In his first year with the Bulls, Patterson coached Cincinnati transfer Chazz Anderson who passed for 2,454 and 11 touchdowns on the season.