SLIPPERY ROCK — Sarah Patterson knew the journey she wanted to take.

She just arrived there much quicker than expected.

And once she got there, the 1978 Slippery Rock State College graduate thrived.

Patterson, 58, was inducted into the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame last weekend after wrapping up a 36-year career as head gymnastics coach at the University of Alabama.

Patterson won 1,006 meets and six national team championships during her tenure with the Crimson Tide.

“I never expected to stay that long,” she said. “Then again, the program wasn't supposed to be around at all.”

A native of upstate New York, Patterson said she came to The Rock “because I knew I wanted to become a coach and that was an outstanding teacher's college.”

After competing as a gymnast in high school and at SRU, Patterson figured she was walking right into the perfect development job when she accepted a position as assistant gymnastics coach at Alabama.

Once she arrived in Tuscaloosa, however, Patterson found out the head coach was no longer there.

“Next thing I knew, I was head coach of a Division I program at age 22,” she said. “That was the good news.

“The bad news was that I was the fifth head coach in the five-year history of the program and plans were in place to discontinue the program at the end of the season.”

Legendary football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was also athletic director at Alabama and “he didn't tolerate losing ... he felt it made the university look bad,” Patterson said. “But he also felt winning made the university look good.”

So Patterson won.

Her team won seven meets in that first season — as many as the program won in its first four seasons combined — and Bryant decided to extend the gymnastics program.

“He told me he saw potential with it and gave me five scholarships to use,” Patterson said.

She gave four of those scholarships to Western Pennsylvania gymnasts, the other to one from Florida — and promised the group they would reach the NCAA national championships before they were done.

In 1983 — their senior season — Alabama began a string of 32 successive trips to the national championships. Included in those trips were national titles in 1988, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2011 and 2012.

“I've been truly blessed there,” Patterson said. “That early success just created more success. I never even looked for another job.”

Patterson's assistant coach for all 36 years, David, has been her husband for 33 years. They both retired from the program together after last year. Patterson decided to step down as she will need two knee replacements in the near future.

She was the last coach at Alabama hired by Bryant.

“He and I always got along fine,” she said. “Bear Bryant cared deeply about that university and its image. He became proud of our gymnastics program.”

Along with the six national titles, Patterson's teams won 29 regional titles and 40 Southeastern Conference championships. Her athletes won 25 individual national titles. She coached 302 All-Americans and 189 Scholastic All-Americans.

“I was hired for $5,000 with no future beyond that one year,” Patterson said. “David and I just took everything a day at a time.

“It didn't just happen. We made it happen. And I'm proud and thankful for all of it.”