TCU had all kinds of issues while struggling to a disappointing 4-8 record last season, and leadership, according to former quarterback Casey Pachall, was one of them.
In an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Pachall didn't hold back when asked to comment on the state of TCU's football program.
"It's rough right now," he said. "There is zero leadership. Nobody wants to step up and take charge of anything. It's rough."
In the preseason, the Horned Frogs were picked by some to win the Big 12. But after injuries to Pachall and preseason All-American defensive end Devonte Fields, TCU finished with just two wins in the league.
Pachall suggested the response to adversity within the team hasn't been good.
"A lot of these guys don't want to speak up, they just want to blend in with the crowd," he said. "They want to be cool with their teammates, instead of getting on them and getting something going."
It's been a rocky transition for TCU into the Big 12. TCU, which went 13-0 and won the Rose Bowl in 2010, has gone just 11-14 since joining the Big 12. Months before playing its first game in its new conference in 2012, four football players were arrested as part of a drug sting. Later, Pachall temporarily left the team in the middle of the season to seek substance abuse treatment. In 2013, the Horned Frogs had several key players get suspended, including Fields. TCU was also without Pachall for five games after he suffered a broken forearm on his non-throwing arm in Week 2.
"I still love those guys," Pachall said. "Maybe they made mistakes, everybody does. I'm not putting those people down at all. They are still my good friends. Things are going to happen and as a team they need somebody to step up."
