FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Christian football coach Gary Patterson said assistant Jerry Kill suffered a concussion when he got knocked down during a postgame scuffle after a home loss to Southern Methodist over the weekend and accused his opponent of plotting a provacative flag planting at midfield.
Patterson insisted Tuesday that Kill would not have been knocked down had Mustangs players not been trying to plant their school flag.
"He got hit twice ... I cannot substantiate that it was a SMU or TCU person, but it did happen. If we wouldn't have had the flags, it wouldn't have happened," Patterson said during his weekly news conference.
Patterson said he believed the Mustangs planned the flag-planting, a claim strongly denied by SMU athletic director Rick Hart.
Kill, the former Gophers coach who was the best man in Patterson's wedding, had a two-inch knot and scrapes on the back of his head, Patterson said.
In his postgame remarks after the 42-34 loss on Saturday, Patterson initially indicated he believed Kill was hit with a helmet by an SMU player. He said Tuesday that he couldn't substantiate if that happened.
Hart, however, said there was no evidence after a thorough review of available video of anyone from SMU being involved with Kill getting hurt.
"I have spoken with TCU athletics director Jeremiah Donati and we agree that there is no evidence to support Coach Patterson's initial claims. To that end, I was assured any insinuation that this occurred would be 'walked back' by Coach Patterson during today's press conference," Hart said.