FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU coach Gary Patterson said Kenny Hill lost confidence last season.

Some of that was on the Horned Frogs quarterback. But Thursday after TCU's sixth spring practice, Patterson admitted some of that was on him. Some of it was on Hill’s offensive teammates, too.

“I think he lost a little bit of confidence at the end of last year, and I don’t think all of it was his fault,” Patterson said.

Kenny Hill was fourth in the Big 12 in total offense in 2016 but threw a league-high 13 interceptions. Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports

“But he's got to get his swagger back ... and do some of the things he can do."

Ensuring that Hill gets that swagger back will be paramount for the Horned Frogs as they work toward bouncing back from a 6-7 finish last season.

Replacing All-American quarterback Trevone Boykin, Hill flashed moments of brilliance in 2016. But he also proved frustrating at times, topping the Big 12 with 13 interceptions.

“I was too tough on him, to be honest,” Patterson said in explaining one reason why Hill might have lost confidence.

“But you’ve got to look like it doesn’t matter to you that you threw a pick. You can’t let the rest of the offense know that it gets to you. You’ve got to be able to give them that confidence.”

But for Hill to give the rest of the offense more confidence, the rest of the offense has to give Hill more confidence first. Patterson said that starts with the wide receivers.

“What has to happen with Kenny is we have to have a wide receiver step up and say, 'I’m the guy. You throw it up to me, I’m going to find a way to catch it,'” Patterson said. “If you don't have that, you won’t become what you want to become. Trevone Boykin was a good player. But he was also a good player because of [former TCU wideouts] Kolby Listenbee and Josh Doctson,” the latter of whom became an All-American.

Even though the Horned Frogs didn't have a single player finish in the top 10 in the Big 12 in receiving yards last year, Patterson says he sees reason to believe this year’s group can produce such a go-to wideout.

Patterson noted that Emanuel Porter and Jaelan Austin have had good camps so far. Incoming freshman Jalen Reagor was one of the top wide receiver signees in the country. Shaun Nixon is back after missing all of last year with an injury. While Taj Williams delivered a few acrobatic receptions last year reminiscent of the ones Doctson once pulled down.

“Great wide receivers catch whatever ball they’ve got to,” Patterson said. “Sliding for balls, catching balls out of bounds, that’s what good wideouts do. Our guys have to be able to do that.”

Meanwhile this spring, Patterson said one of the primary goals has been figuring out how to tailor the offense to Hill's strengths better than it did last season. The Horned Frogs are also making a concerted effort in finding out the best ways to get Hill going at the beginning of games. That could mean more quick throws early. Or more designed runs for Hill out of the gate.

“The faster he gets in the flow of the game, the better he is,” Patterson said. “We’ve got to find out with Kenny which one it is.

"We’ve got to do a good job of fitting the offense around him. We’ve got to tweak it so it fits Kenny.”

Of course, the Horned Frogs can only do so much to help Hill regain that confidence; that swagger. Ultimately, only Hill can truly rediscover it.

“Trevone was great about it,” Patterson said. “He had ice. It didn’t matter. He was going out and throwing the next throw.

“For us, our quarterback has to be that.”