DALLAS – University of North Texas at Dallas announced Darvis "Doc" Patton as the Cross Country and Track and Field Head Coach for the 2025-26 season. Patton is the third coach at the helm for the Trailblazers and comes to the university as a highly decorated world-class athlete and coach.

He is a three-time Olympian and two-time world champion sprinter, as well as a talented horizontal jumper. His resume includes personal bests of 9.89 in the 100-meter dash, 20.03 in the 200m, 8.12m (26' 7.5") in the long jump, and he also triple jumped over 53 feet in junior college.

A two-time Olympic silver medalist, two-time World Championship Gold medalist, and World Championship silver medalist, Patton also has 10 NCAA All-American titles to his credit during his time TCU. As a  Garden City Community College Broncbuster, he was awarded 8 JUCO All-American plaques spanning the sprints and jumps.

A native to the DFW metropolitan area, Patton graduated from Lake Highlands High School in Dallas and has coached club and high school athletes. 

Darvis joined Texas Wesleyan in 2022 as an assistant track and field coach, where he specialized in short sprints and jumps. Through his leadership, both the men's and women's track teams garnered the university's first Sooner Athletic Conference championship titles in school history. He also produced the program's first national track and field champions, with two athletes bringing home titles in the 400m, 60 meter hurdles, and 100m hurdles - and he built the program's capacity for success in just three short years.

In 2023, the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named Patton the Women's Track & Field Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year in the South Central Region. He was promoted to associate head coach for the Rams in 2024.

Patton's unique ability to develop and grow championship athletes is evident in what he has accomplished in our community multiple times. However, his coaching experience extends to the professional ranks, as he helped the Men's and Women's USA Track and Field teams snag IAAF World Relay Championship titles in 2015. He later led the 2015 NACAC Senior Championship relay teams to the top spot, securing 10 medals in the process.  As a high school coach, Darvis led Fort Worth's All Saints Episcopal school track and field team to excellence, breaking school records in high jump and 4x100 meter race. That same year, the Saint's placed fourth in the state championship, the highest ranked finish in the school's 70-year history.

A student and constant fan of the sport, Darvis has served as the Men's Sprints Event Leader of USATF Athlete's Advisory Committee. He is a proud former member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a speed and agility consultant, and a proud member of the parking lot ministry at New Life Fellowship in Arlington. 

Darvis is also a frequent motivational speaker with over 13 years' experience representing global athletic brands as a professional sprinter. It was during his time on the track he says he developed his coaching philosophy-one grounded in commonalities that exist in navigating the peaks and valleys of personal and professional growth in life and sport.

Patton and his wife Crystal have a daughter, Dakota, and son, Darvis II.