Detroit Lions: Matt Patricia dead last in recent coaching rankings
The Detroit Lions hired one of the hottest head coaching prospects to helm their franchise this offseason. So why is he ranked dead last among NFL head coaches?
The Detroit Lions fired one of their most successful head coaches in franchise history earlier this year. Although it was a relatively small sample size, Jim Caldwell’s tenure in the Motor City was a successful one.
During his four years in Detroit, Caldwell was able to post a 36-28 regular season record with two playoff appearances. Unfortunately, it was the Lions’ 0-2 record in the postseason that sealed Caldwell’s fate.
Earlier this year, Caldwell was unceremoniously fired. And in his place, the Lions landed one of the hottest coaching prospects in the entire league. That, of course, being Matt Patricia.
The 42-year old was the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator since 2012. In that span, his defenses helped to lead the Pats to six-straight trips to the AFC Conference Championship game and three Super Bowl appearances, winning two.
Patricia has actually been with the Patroits organization and learning from legendary head coach Bill Belichick since 2004. That’s a 14-year education at “Belichick U”. Patricia is likely more prepared than any first-time head coach has even been to helm a franchise in the history of football.
Yet, that résumé failed to impress one NFL writer, as he recently ranked the Lions’ Patricia as the worst head coach in the league.
"“Chill out, Lions fans. It’s tough to rank first-year coaches, and this could just as easily be any of the other first-year guys,” wrote Bill Bender for The Sporting News. “The 43-year-old former Patriots defensive coordinator should be able to incorporate what he learned in New England to keep Detroit in the playoff hunt. That said, Patricia is under the most scrutiny early, and Detroit is not an easy place in which to coach.”"
Certainly, past proteges of Belichick have failed to live up to expectations. That includes current Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels who returned to New England after a failed bid as the head coach for the Denver Broncos from 2009-2010. But Patricia seems to be in a better situation than most.
It’s curious that Bender elected to rank Patricia so low when there are several first-time head coaches that are attempting to revive teams that appear much less talented. For example: Frank Reich in Indianapolis, Matt Nagy in Chicago and Steve Wilks in Arizona. All of which Bender ranked above Patricia and the Lions.
Next: Was the NFL’s ranking of Matthew Stafford fair?
Matt Patricia joins a primed Detroit Lions team that has had recent success. Surely, the Lions brass are hoping the addition of Patricia, particularity on the defensive side of the ball, will be enough to get Detroit their first playoff victory since 1992.