An ESPN report says the Philadelphia Eagles are hiring former Lions head coach Matt Patricia, but there’s not much evidence that it has actually happened yet.
After an ill-fated season as the New England Patriots’ offensive play caller, former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia is looking for a new job. On Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Philadelphia Eagles are hiring Patricia as a senior defensive assistant.
Rumors tying Patricia to the Eagles date back to March. That inspired some social media back and forth involving former Lions Darius Slay and Quandre Diggs, former NFL cornerback Charles Woodson, etc. Slay, who of course plays for the Eagles, has a checkered (to put in midly) history with Patricia from when the self-proclaimed genius was the Lions’ head coach.
On Thursday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said it was “trending in that direction” in terms of hiring Patricia.
Have the Philadelphia Eagles actually hired Matt Patricia?
The Eagles announced new coaching staff hires on Thursday afternoon.
Patricia’s name is nowhere to be seen.
Take a look at the latest updates to our coaching staff.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/R7a16T0Dds
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 20, 2023
It could be purely a matter of semantics, in terms of a contract needing to be officially done and signed, before the Eagles officially announced the addition of Patricia to their defensive staff. And once it is, the team will make an announcement of the hire.
But until then, and it appears Patricia was scrubbed from an initial press release, there’s healthy skepticism to be had. The Eagles granted Slay permission to seek a trade earlier this offseason, perhaps not coincidentally as the rumors tying them to Patricia were out there. But he’s back, with a new contract. Sirianni said he spoke to Slay about the prospect of hiring Patricia.
"Of course,” Sirianni said. “Like you do with anything, you go through and you talk to guys and you make sure that everybody is comfortable with it. I had conversations with Slay. Obviously, I had conversations with Coach Patricia. I know it’ll be a good working relationship for us when that happens."
But until Patricia’s hiring is made official, there will be questions about whether he actually will be on the Eagles’ staff.