North Carolina State University Athletics
Beyond the Game Plan: Kevin Patrick
8/27/2019 9:54:00 AM | Football
By Chad Wylie, Special Contributor
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RALEIGH, N.C. - Hanging in the football operations center at the University of South Florida is a poster depicting the first time the Bulls ever ran onto their home football field. Leading that excited charge of players into Raymond James Stadium is a face that may be familiar to Wolfpack Nation: NC State defensive line coach Kevin Patrick.
"When you help build a program, your fingerprints are all over it," Patrick said. "Your fingerprints are part of the story of the birth of a program, and I was the first person in the history of USF to lead the team out to its first game ever. Nobody will ever lead that team out for the first time again. I was chosen to do that, and you can't replace that. That will live on for the rest of my life."
For Patrick, joining the Bulls' coaching staff in 1996 filled the void that was left when two shoulder surgeries ended his time with the Saint Louis Rams in the NFL.
"The things we lack when we leave a sport as an athlete, the joys and thrills, you can never replace that," Patrick said. "You can get close as a coach to filling that void you lost after you were a player. Having the ability to stay in this business is a privilege because it is the closest thing to playing the game."
During his college career at the University of Miami, Patrick became very familiar with the joys and thrills that playing football can provide.
Patrick grew up in West Palm Beach, in a single-parent house with his mom, Nancy Brown, and two younger brothers. While he gravitated toward baseball as a young player, Patrick continued to grow and eventually football became the sport his physical gifts best complimented.
Playing running back, linebacker, and tight end in high school, Patrick garnered attention from the major Florida schools. He eventually chose Miami because they wanted him to play tight end, while other schools recruited him for defense.
After joining the team, he only gained traction on the scout team offense. Following an especially brutal practice where Patrick took a cheap shot, he accepted an invitation from Hurricanes defensive line coach Bob Karmelowicz, giving him a spot with the defense. Patrick decided he was done being hit and wanted to do the hitting instead. He took a seat in the defensive line room, and never looked back.
Staying close to home for college was important to Patrick, who saw his career not only as an opportunity to advance in football, but also to bring his family together.
"One of the most important things was being close to home," Patrick said. "When I would run through the smoke it became a routine to look up and find my mom where she was sitting at every home game. I shared my career with my family. We were a financially struggling family, we were a hard working family, and that was the common bond that rallied my whole family together. I never played for myself, I played for all the people who supported me and had my back."
By the time he graduated from Miami, Patrick had played in three national championship games - winning two - Â was the Big East Defensive player of the Year and had tallied the fifth most sacks in program history.
After injuries ended his brief professional career, Patrick returned to Palm Beach, where he coached high school while figuring out what his next step would be. That is when Patrick received a call from Jim Leavitt, the coach of the new, upstart program: South Florida.
But even during that initial period, Patrick was not sure that coaching would be his career path. In 1998, Patrick left the program and worked with some college friends in a private medical billing company. But after doing that for seven years, Patrick again felt drawn into coaching. He returned to South Florida in 2008 and has coached the defensive line ever since.
Now entering his 15th year of coaching, Patrick and his wife, Rachel, and two daughters are fully entrenched in the Raleigh area, where Patrick has thrived as defensive line coach.
All four starters on his first Wolfpack defensive line were selected in the 2018 NFL Draft, with Bradley Chubb going 4th overall, and winning the Nugurski Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in the country.
Having worked with players like Jason Pierre-Paul and Chubb, Patrick has shown his players how their talent often goes far beyond their understanding.
"I have the ability to make these guys understand that their ceiling is so far above them," Patrick said. "Their pain tolerance, toughness, skill ability is so above what they know. The great thing as a leader is having vision to see what is possible for these guys. Once they see it, then they can almost touch it and it becomes fathomable."
Patrick has never forgotten the celebrations at Miami after winning the national championship. He believes that if his players buy into his message, then his final career goal can again be achieved.
"My goal is to win a national championship as a coach," Patrick said. "Win a conference championship and then a national championship. Period. Those opportunities are blessings, and however they may come. To be able to do it again – to put your finger up and say you are the best there ever was? I want that again."
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RALEIGH, N.C. - Hanging in the football operations center at the University of South Florida is a poster depicting the first time the Bulls ever ran onto their home football field. Leading that excited charge of players into Raymond James Stadium is a face that may be familiar to Wolfpack Nation: NC State defensive line coach Kevin Patrick.
"When you help build a program, your fingerprints are all over it," Patrick said. "Your fingerprints are part of the story of the birth of a program, and I was the first person in the history of USF to lead the team out to its first game ever. Nobody will ever lead that team out for the first time again. I was chosen to do that, and you can't replace that. That will live on for the rest of my life."
For Patrick, joining the Bulls' coaching staff in 1996 filled the void that was left when two shoulder surgeries ended his time with the Saint Louis Rams in the NFL.
"The things we lack when we leave a sport as an athlete, the joys and thrills, you can never replace that," Patrick said. "You can get close as a coach to filling that void you lost after you were a player. Having the ability to stay in this business is a privilege because it is the closest thing to playing the game."
During his college career at the University of Miami, Patrick became very familiar with the joys and thrills that playing football can provide.
Patrick grew up in West Palm Beach, in a single-parent house with his mom, Nancy Brown, and two younger brothers. While he gravitated toward baseball as a young player, Patrick continued to grow and eventually football became the sport his physical gifts best complimented.
Playing running back, linebacker, and tight end in high school, Patrick garnered attention from the major Florida schools. He eventually chose Miami because they wanted him to play tight end, while other schools recruited him for defense.
After joining the team, he only gained traction on the scout team offense. Following an especially brutal practice where Patrick took a cheap shot, he accepted an invitation from Hurricanes defensive line coach Bob Karmelowicz, giving him a spot with the defense. Patrick decided he was done being hit and wanted to do the hitting instead. He took a seat in the defensive line room, and never looked back.
Staying close to home for college was important to Patrick, who saw his career not only as an opportunity to advance in football, but also to bring his family together.
"One of the most important things was being close to home," Patrick said. "When I would run through the smoke it became a routine to look up and find my mom where she was sitting at every home game. I shared my career with my family. We were a financially struggling family, we were a hard working family, and that was the common bond that rallied my whole family together. I never played for myself, I played for all the people who supported me and had my back."
By the time he graduated from Miami, Patrick had played in three national championship games - winning two - Â was the Big East Defensive player of the Year and had tallied the fifth most sacks in program history.
After injuries ended his brief professional career, Patrick returned to Palm Beach, where he coached high school while figuring out what his next step would be. That is when Patrick received a call from Jim Leavitt, the coach of the new, upstart program: South Florida.
But even during that initial period, Patrick was not sure that coaching would be his career path. In 1998, Patrick left the program and worked with some college friends in a private medical billing company. But after doing that for seven years, Patrick again felt drawn into coaching. He returned to South Florida in 2008 and has coached the defensive line ever since.
Now entering his 15th year of coaching, Patrick and his wife, Rachel, and two daughters are fully entrenched in the Raleigh area, where Patrick has thrived as defensive line coach.
All four starters on his first Wolfpack defensive line were selected in the 2018 NFL Draft, with Bradley Chubb going 4th overall, and winning the Nugurski Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in the country.
Having worked with players like Jason Pierre-Paul and Chubb, Patrick has shown his players how their talent often goes far beyond their understanding.
"I have the ability to make these guys understand that their ceiling is so far above them," Patrick said. "Their pain tolerance, toughness, skill ability is so above what they know. The great thing as a leader is having vision to see what is possible for these guys. Once they see it, then they can almost touch it and it becomes fathomable."
Patrick has never forgotten the celebrations at Miami after winning the national championship. He believes that if his players buy into his message, then his final career goal can again be achieved.
"My goal is to win a national championship as a coach," Patrick said. "Win a conference championship and then a national championship. Period. Those opportunities are blessings, and however they may come. To be able to do it again – to put your finger up and say you are the best there ever was? I want that again."
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Players Mentioned
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