Detroit Lions: Is Matt Patricia’s cone of silence really a benefit?

So is Matt Patricia’s cone of silence a benefit for the Detroit Lions? Yes, it is. Every team needs to have a poker face and they also need to be able to chart a course and follow it religiously. That’s how they become successful.

Back when the Dallas Cowboys were an expansion team they lost frequently, but their head coach Tom Landry never veered off course. The same for Chuck Noll who built a dynasty in Pittsburgh in the 1970’s or Bill Walsh who had a slow start in San Francisco or Bill Parcells in New York with the Giants or Jimmie Johnson when he took over the reigns in Dallas.

Almost every great coaching story had a rocky start. Even the powerful Green Bay Packers teams of Vince Lombardi only finished in third place during his first season at the helm.

Now does this mean Patricia is destined for greatness? Not necessarily.

As a matter of fact, if we had a nickel for each new Lions head coach that had a slow start, we would all make Bill Gates look like a pauper begging for change.

Conversely, if we had a million dollars for every Lions coach that had a fast start, we still couldn’t even afford to treat ourselves at the gumball machine in your local grocery store.

Patricia doesn’t have to act like he’s the smartest man in the room, build an adversarial relationship with the press or even tell us how close they are to turning this team around, despite a roster that was dramatically low on talent, as some of his predecessors here in Detroit have done.

Matt Patricia just needs to figure out the whole balance to being a head coach. It’s something every head coach in history has had to figure out. The good ones do. The bad ones don’t.

The point is simple; if Matt Patricia is going to be successful here in Detroit, he will need to be unwavering in his approach to how he chooses to handle the Lions. No apologies for his approach and no changing his core beliefs midstream.

So while there may be practical reasons for the use of the cone of silence, the most basic reason he should use it is because he’s comfortable with it. If he believes it is one of the essential tools to success, then he absolutely should go that route.

Eventually, time will tell us if he’s right or wrong.