Texas Tech reportedly has hired North Texas defensive line coach Kevin Patrick, a former standout player at the University of Miami in the early 1990s.

The Palm Beach (Florida) Post reported the move.

Patrick spent the last two seasons at North Texas, whose staff broke up with the firing Dan McCarney. Patrick was a holdover on the staff of newly hired North Texas head coach Seth Littrell, but he would fill one of three remaining openings on Kliff Kingsbury's Tech staff.

Tech has been looking for a defensive line coach since Mike Smith was one of three assistants let go at the end of the 2015 regular season.

Patrick, 44, went to high school in West Palm Beach, Florida, and played on two national championship teams at Miami during his career from 1989-93. He had 10 sacks and received all-America recognition in 1993. He was just inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame in April.

Patrick was an assistant from 1996-98 and again from 2008-12 at South Florida, where he helped develop Jason Pierre-Paul, George Selvie and Terrell McClain, all of whom are now in the NFL. He was the Bulls' defensive ends coach from 1996-98 and their defensive line coach from 2008-13.

In 2009, Rivals.com named Patrick one of the top 25 recruiters in the nation and the top recruiter in the Big East Conference.

During a decade away from coaching, according to his bio on the USF athletic website, Patrick owned and managed a medical billing company with annual business of $5 million to $6 million.

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