Receiver Dean Patterson making most of opportunity with Georgia Tech

How it has all played out is even a bit difficult for Dean Patterson to believe.

“I think about it all the time. It’s just such a blessing,” Patterson said Wednesday. “It’s like the definition of God’s plan for me. If you wanted to tell me that a senior in high school that didn’t have that much offers and didn’t really get much interest, that I was gonna be in this position? I would look at you crazy. Like, there’s no way that I’d ever. Top-10 team, senior year — that is truly amazing and it’s a huge blessing, and I can only be nothing but grateful for it.”

Patterson (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) came to No. 8 Georgia Tech for his final season of college football as a transfer from Florida International, but he has come from so much further away than that.

At Steinbrenner High School in Florida, just north of Tampa, Patterson had only a glimmer of hope of playing college football, despite being an all-state selection after catching 58 passes for 847 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior in 2019 to set the Steinbrenner record for receptions and receiving yards in a season. Southwest Minnesota State, Urbana, Lawrence Tech, Limestone, Culver-Stockton and The Citadel were among the few programs to offer Patterson a scholarship.

Patterson wound up at Division II Findlay in northwest Ohio in 2020.

“Findlay really believed in me and, to be honest, taking a visit, being a Florida boy, going all the way up to really cold Ohio, it was definitely something different, very much life-changing,” he said. “It honestly helped me grow up is what I would say.”

Patterson returned to Florida after his one redshirt season at Findlay. He opted to walk on at Florida International in Miami ahead of the 2021 season and would catch three passes (all in FIU’s 11th game of a 1-11 season). After FIU’s 2022 spring practice, Patterson earned a scholarship.

From 2022-24, Patterson collected 95 receptions for 1,372 yards. His first career touchdown reception came in a 2023 game at Arkansas. He scored seven times last season before entering the transfer portal, as an FIU graduate, to find a new home for his redshirt senior season.

“Dean’s a great kid. I mean, unbelievable kid,” Tech coach Brent Key said Tuesday. “I would take Dean Patterson on this football team year in and year out and take 10 of ‘em. His play on special teams and how he’s helping the team, and ability to get in and do the dirty work in there — it was really good to see him (Saturday against Syracuse) reap the fruits and rewards of his labors.”

Said Tech quarterback Haynes King: “I love Dean. He knows what to do, he’s very savvy, smart, dependable, gets open and just does his job. He’s just been consistent for us throughout this whole season. To see him be able to make plays, get the ball in his hand and let him show his talents, it’s just fun seeing guys like that be able to do that.”

A third of Patterson’s six catches this season have gone for touchdowns, an 87-yard catch and run Sept. 6 against Gardner-Webb and a 37-yard score on a screen in Saturday’s win over Syracuse. That’s a high success rate for someone who isn’t often the primary target in the passing game. (He’s only been targeted 10 times over eight games this season, according to Pro Football Focus).

Patterson, however, is a major part of what the Yellow Jackets (8-0, 5-0 ACC) accomplish on special teams, where he has played 44 snaps as a member of the kickoff, kickoff return and punt return units.

“I truly believe in helping the team as much as possible,” Patterson said. “Obviously at the receiver position it’s easy to be kinda selfish and be like, ‘Nah, I only wanna be playing offense.’ The realistic expectation is that if you’re not one of those top one or two guys in the NFL, you gotta play special teams.

“I wanna be able to help my team as much as possible and put us in the best scenario to win. I wanna help guys who I’m blocking for on kickoff return or punt return. I want them to be able to have their explosive plays, just as much as I wanna be able to have my explosive plays. I know that guys are gonna have to put in some work for that to happen to me.”

Patterson’s role in Tech’s offense isn’t likely to change (barring injuries to his teammates) as the Jackets begin the final month of the regular season. And he’s not likely to be at the top of any opposing team’s scouting report.

That seems OK to Patterson, who has come to thrive on those who don’t believe in him.

“Definitely isn’t easy. I gotta give credit to people in my corner, definitely the people who helped motivate me,” he said. “Was I really that confident in myself when all these coaches didn’t believe in me? Definitely sucked, but with those people in my corner, that helped motivate me and I believe that kind of helped drive me.