Donnie Kent Patterson (born December 10, 1950) is an American former football coach. He served as the head football coach at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois from 1999 to 2009, when he resigned due to health problems related to treatment for cancer. Patterson was the 18th football coach at the school. His record at Western Illinois was 63âÂÂ47. He spent his final two years of coaching as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach of the Connecticut Huskies. Patterson announced his retirement on January 8, 2016, after 37 years of college coaching.