Detroit Lions: 5 midseason coaching replacements for Matt Patricia

Brayden Coombs

It’s probably too soon for the 33-year old Brayden Coombs to take the reins of the Lions’ franchise as he’s still in his first season as Detroit’s special team coordinator. Yet, if you are looking to jumpstart a budding coaching career and willing to give an unproven coach a shot hoping to find the next Sean McVay, Coombs could be the choice.

Despite his age, Coombs has a decade of NFL experience under his belt. He joined the Cincinnati Bengals organization as a coaching intern back in 2009. He’d spend the next 10 years working in all three phases of coaching at some point as an assistant or quality control for their special teams, offense, and defense.

Aiding the case for Coombs would be the fact the Lions have veteran coordinators in place to support him in Darrell Bevell and Cory Undlin. And every team seems to be looking for the next young coach who can relate to his players in ways other coaching veterans can’t. Coombs fits that bill.

Promoting Coombs from special teams coordinator to interim head coach would also keep the offensive and defensive coaching structures intact, giving the team some sort of consistency to try and salvage the season. It would also give Hemp time to properly evaluate an up-and-coaching NFL coaching prospect.