TCU quarterback Casey Pachall won’t face team discipline for drug use

Pachall completed a university-mandated drug and alcohol awareness program.

FORT WORTH — TCU quarterback Casey Pachall began the preseason by publicly apologizing Sunday afternoon after reports emerged of his admitted drug use.

“I’ve made mistakes, I know I’m not perfect,” Pachall said. “But I’ve learned from those mistakes and I’m still learning.”

According to police reports made public last week, Pachall admitted to police that he had failed a team drug test, and that he had tried ecstasy and cocaine. Head Football Coach Gary Patterson confirmed Friday that Pachall had failed the February test.

On Sunday, Patterson said he and Pachall agreed that the issue should be addressed publicly during the TCU Media Luncheon.

“It’s just another example of how we’re not trying to hide anything,” Patterson said. “You gotta talk. You can’t hide behind a helmet. That’s what he was trying to tell you.”

Patterson said Pachall’s punishment for failing the drug test came from the university, and that according to university policy, students must undergo drug and alcohol awareness for failing a drug test, which Pachall completed.

Patterson said that there will be no discipline for Pachall within the football program, and when asked if suspension was ever an idea, Patterson said no.

“I’m in the job of growing up young people,” Patterson said. “If you have a son or daughter and they screw up, do they quit being yours because you’re upset with them?”

The issues surrounding the drug use were much bigger than TCU football, Patterson said.

“What you need to understand is that he is a football player to you,” Patterson said. “He is somebody’s son to me.”

As for Pachall, he is working to better himself, but knows that it is a continual process, he said.

“It’s a day-to-day process for me, trying to be a better person and trying to be a better role model for this team and this community and this university,” Pachall said.