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How did Matt Patricia’s predecessors do in their coaching debuts?

By Payne Schanski

DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 30: Head coach Matt Patricia of the Detroit Lions looks on while playing the Cleveland Browns during a preseason game at Ford Field on August 30, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 30: Head coach Matt Patricia of the Detroit Lions looks on while playing the Cleveland Browns during a preseason game at Ford Field on August 30, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brian Killian/NFLPhotoLibrary)
(Photo by Brian Killian/NFLPhotoLibrary) /

Rod Marinelli – 2006

What he inherited: A 5-11 squad that was nearly out of suggestions. A front office that spent the first half of the decade drafting wide receivers, and had gaping holes at nearly every other position (and somehow, at wide receiver too).

Expectations Level: People thought Steve Mariucci was going to be a successful head coach in Detroit. People thought Joey Harrington was going to be a successful QB in Detroit.

Neither happened, and the Lions downgraded in both of these positions for 2006 (Marinelli and Jon Kitna). They say no one rises to low expectations. Well, these expectations were indeed low, and the Marinelli Lions didn’t rise to them.

First Game: Loss, 6-9 vs Seattle.

I may be mistaken, but this is the last Lions game I remember where neither team scored a touchdown. The Lions came out on the wrong side of a field goal contest against a Seahawks team that was fresh off a Super Bowl appearance (also in Detroit ) the previous winter.

2006 didn’t go well (3-13), and after a seven-win season the next year, 2008 went about as unwell as is possible for Marinelli’s team.

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