Lions part ways with Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn; What’s next?
The Detroit Lions have fired Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia on Saturday
After 43 games, the New England Patriots Midwest experiment is finally over. This after several reports indicating the Detroit Lions have fired both head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn.
The firings come just two days after the Lions suffered an embarrassing loss to a struggling Houston Texans who came into the matchup sporting a record of 3-7. For fans, this move couldn’t come quick enough as both Quinn and Patricia were believed to be on the hot seat at the end of last season.
Detroit retained both Patricia and Quinn after the Lions posted a disappointing 3-12-1 record in 2019. But ownership issued the expectation publicly that the team would be a playoff contender in 2020, playing meaningful games in December. With a record of 4-7, the organization clearly didn’t feel those expectations were met.
Both Quinn and Patricia came to Detroit following long stints with the Patriots’ organization. Quinn became the general manager for the Lions in 2016. The team would hire Patricia as head coach two years later, firing Jim Caldwell after back-to-back 9-7 seasons.
Sheila Hamp said last two games were the last straw: 10 days ago we looked like we had a good chance to be playoff bound. Both of those games were extremely disappointing.
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) November 28, 2020
Patricia and Quinn led the Lions to a 13-29-1 record together. And so it’s fitting that they were fired together as well. Both were given five-year contracts when Patricia arrived, so their fates were intertwined from the very beginning.
With five games left in the season, Lions’ offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell is now interim head coach according to a source via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Although Bevell has also been under some recent fire after the Lions went scoreless against a struggling Carolina Panthers team last Sunday in a 20-0 blowout.
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With Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn now gone, what’s next for the Detroit Lions? This team can now begin to take steps deconstructing and rebuilding the franchise those two built. And that might be a difficult task considering many of the players signed by the previous regime are ex-Patriots.