Keith Patterson learned about the importance of process when he was in the first grade in Marlow, Oklahoma. It's a lesson he's been teaching ever since.
The story goes like this: Patterson's teacher, Mrs. Griffin, wrote on the chalkboard,
"When I grow up, I want to be…" Young Keith filled in the blank with
professional football player. And then he wrote,
"If I an't good enough" – a phrasing he remembers well, complete with the apostrophe and the misspelling  – "
I'm going to play in the NBA."
The dream was big, the passion was real, but the problem, as Patterson says now with a laugh, was simple: "I focused on the goal, not the process." He played five or six sports, but he didn't do the daily work necessary to reach the elite levels he dreamed of. Meanwhile, classmate and close friend — future world-record pole vaulter Joe Dial — was out on the track grinding through 100-degree Oklahoma summers, rep by rep, planting the seeds of greatness.
Dial chased the process. Patterson learned from it.
More than fifty years later, that first-grade lesson remains the core of the program Patterson has built at Abilene Christian University. This is why the Wildcats are preparing this week for the second round of the FCS national playoffs after winning their second consecutive United Athletic Conference championship and defeating Lamar 38-20 last week in the opening round of the FCS playoffs.
The Wildcats will enter Saturday's game at Stephen F. Austin with a five-game winning streak. The Lumberjacks come into the game at 10-2 and on a 10-game winning streak. The last team to beat the Lumberjacks? The ACU Wildcats, by a score of 28-20 on Sept. 6 in Abilene. But that game—now three months ago—won't matter much on Saturday. What matters is the journey from then to now.
Because at ACU, the process is the point. And the results have followed.
A Season Built on Mondays Through Thursdays
Ask Patterson about the Wildcats' 2025 success, and he will talk very little about game days. Instead, he'll talk about what leads to them.
"People spend too much time thinking about winning a game," he said. "They don't spend enough time thinking about what happens Monday to Thursday."
Preparation – film study, game planning, walk-throughs, position meetings, extra tape sessions, conditioning – is where his players learn to trust themselves and each other. It's where confidence is built. That's why he rejects the myth of dramatic halftime speeches or wholesale adjustments.
"You spend 12 to 14 hours a day Sunday through Wednesday formulating a game plan," Patterson said. "You're not going to scrap that in a 15-minute halftime. Can you tweak things? Sure. But really, you reinforce the keys to victory."
Those keys are simple: protect the football; take the ball away; play with discipline, character, and toughness; and believe in the preparation.
"Football is a players' game," Patterson said. "It's your responsibility to go make plays. And that belief—man, it builds confidence."
The Wildcats needed that belief more than ever at midseason.
At 4–4, ACU was reeling. A lopsided loss at Incarnate Word and a tough loss at Southern Utah had the Wildcats facing an uphill climb to repeat their 2024 success. Patterson knew exactly what was happening: a young team, burdened by early-season mistakes and fatigue, was teetering.
"It wouldn't have mattered what we said or what we called that night," he said of the UIW loss. "It was just one of those storms you have to go through."
And yet, the storm became the catalyst. When the Wildcats regrouped, they did so with a renewed clarity.
"I challenged them to have great belief," Patterson said. "Belief in yourself, belief in your teammate, belief in your coaches. After that, I think our guys really started to believe that when we play to our capability, there's no one we can't beat."
What followed was perhaps the most impressive four-game stretch in modern ACU football history: wins over Tarleton, Utah Tech, Eastern Kentucky, and finally, a dramatic 49–28 comeback at Central Arkansas for ACU's first win ever in Conway.
"You win four games in November, two on the road, against that kind of competition—that's different," Patterson said. "This group is just different."
The Third Quarter That Defined a Championship
The moment that will be remembered the longest from ACU's 2025 season came in Conway, where the Wildcats trailed 21–13 at halftime. The locker room was calm. The plan didn't change. The message didn't change.
"I just said, 'Defense, we need you to take the ball away at least twice in the second half,' " Patterson told his team. "And then, 'Offense, 100 percent ball security. We're going to go score the next three possessions.' "
And then they did.
The Wildcats exploded for
29 unanswered points in the third quarter, turning an eight-point deficit into a 42–21 lead. Afterward, one longtime ACU observer texted Patterson: "That's the best quarter of football in ACU history."
Patterson agreed.
"It felt like a wave," he said. "The collisions, the intensity, the pressure we put on the quarterback … it was overwhelming. If you could bottle that up, it would be scary."
It was not the product of emotion. It was not halftime magic. It was the process in action – months of preparation, belief, and discipline converging in a single 15-minute stretch that delivered a conference title.
A Different Celebration, A Bigger Goal
When the clock hit zero at Central Arkansas, and the Wildcats clinched their second straight UAC title, the celebration was noticeably more subdued than last year's raucous party in Stephenville.
It wasn't fatigue. It wasn't a lack of joy.
It was focus.
"Last year, everything was new," Patterson said. "This year, our goal wasn't to win the conference. Our goal has been January 5, 2026."
That's the date of the FCS national championship game in Nashville. And since the team's first meeting in January 2025, Patterson has shown them a photo of Vanderbilt's stadium to reinforce the purpose of every practice, meeting, and workout.
"I told them this photo is what brings purpose to tomorrow's workout," he said. "We've aimed at the highest cloud all year. Winning the conference felt a little anticlimactic, because our guys believe they can win a national championship."
It's not arrogance, he insists. It's a belief. And it's earned.
A Program Built on Identity
Patterson does not sell slogans. He does not change mottos. ACU football has a simple mission, he says: the same mission as the university – to develop students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.
The pillars are unchanged:
character, discipline, and toughness.
The culture is built on faith, not just belief in winning, but belief in endurance, perseverance, and purpose through trials.
"Football is a microcosm of life," Patterson said. "You're going to get knocked down. It's not if, but when. But those trials produce perseverance, and perseverance produces proven character, and that produces hope."
That spiritual foundation is woven through every team talk, every practice, every film session. It is why the players trust him. And it is why they trust one another.
Win and Advance
Now the Wildcats head to the second round of the playoffs for the second straight year, this time as a more mature, more confident, more tightly bonded version of last year's postseason team.
Last year, simply being there was a celebration. This year, as Patterson says, "They're not done writing their story."
The process continues. The preparation continues. The belief continues.
And the road to Nashville is open.
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