TCU Quarterback Casey Pachall Leaving Team for Rehab

TCU quarterback Casey Pachall is leaving the football program and the university for the fall to enroll in a rehab treatment facility, Horned Frog head coach Gary Patterson announced on Tuesday. Pachall was arrested for DWI last week, thus earning a suspension from TCU’s Big 12 Conference game against Iowa State. The Frogs lost 37-23, their first defeat of 2012.

Playing without Pachall, a breakout star in 2011, presents challenges for TCU in its first Big 1 season, but this is the right move for all involved. Pachall admitted to drug use last spring amid a bust at the university that implicated former football players.

“This isn’t about the team,” Patterson said. “This is about Casey Pachall.”

Patterson’s assessment is spot-on. The TCU head coach began making efforts to clean up his program’s substance abuse problem after he was reportedly alerted by a recruit. Team-wide drug tests were issued; Pachall is reported to have failed one. Patterson issued a statement after news of Tanner Brock and others’ implication in the campus drug sting saying, “drugs and drug use will not be tolerated.”

Mere suspensions don’t necessarily uproot greater problems, particularly for players individually impacted. Taking time away from the field and getting treatment is far more important for Pachall than winning some Big 12 contests.

Pachall isn’t the first star player to seek treatment at a rehab facility this year. Former LSU cornerback and 2011 Heisman finalist Tyrann Mathieu was dismissed from the team in the summer and enrolled in a Houston rehab in August. Pachall may follow a similar plan as Mathieu, getting clean while aiming for a 2013 return.

Pachall’s absence means redshirt freshman Trevone Boykin will continue to handle quarterbacking duties. Boykin was working with the depleted running backs corps before getting the call last week. Boykin went 23-40 and threw three interceptions.