Lions Lowdown

It’s been the worst kept secret in the NFL the past two weeks – other than why Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler was benched in the Super Bowl.

Matt Patricia, the Patriots defensive coordinator, was named head coach of the Detroit Lions in an announcement from the team today (Monday). He will be introduced at a press conference at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

“When we launched the search for our next head coach, I wanted to find a leader that could take us to the next level and I am confident we have found that in Matt Patricia. He has been preparing for this opportunity his entire career, and he’s ready for the responsibility and its challenges,’’ general manager Bob Quinn said in a statement. “Matt is driven to succeed, has extreme passion for the game and excels in preparation. He embodies the same hard-working, blue-collar attributes that represent our organization and the great City of Detroit.”

Quinn and Patricia worked for the Patriots from 2004 to 2016.

Patricia issued a statement: “This position comes with great responsibility, and I will commit every ounce of my energy to this football team, starting today. My family is excited to become part of this wonderful city that displays so much passion for their teams.

“I can’t express enough appreciation to the entire New England Patriots franchise, particularly Robert and Jonathan Kraft and their entire family. I will truly cherish these last 14 years as a member of this incredible organization.

“Lastly, I’d like to express my appreciation and thanks to Bill Belichick. He’s been a remarkable mentor to me, not only as a football coach but also as a man and as a friend. I have learned immensely from his detailed leadership approach to the game, which has certainly shaped me into the football coach that I am today. Quite simply, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with, who I believe, is the greatest coach in NFL history.

“Now I turn all of my attention to the Lions. I look forward to the next chapter of my career in Detroit.”

Patricia was in big demand and likely would have been hired by another team (perhaps the Giants) if Quinn had not been able to woo him to Detroit.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

Here are five things to know about Patricia:

1. The Lions will be his first stint as a head coach at any level so it’s hard to know what to expect. He’s learned much from Bill Belichick, arguably one of the best coaches in any sport. The two have worked together since Patricia was hired in 2004 as an offensive assistant.

2/ He’s smart. He graduated with an aeronautical engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he played center and guard. Degrees are great but successful coaches also know how to motivate. We’ll assume he’s learned that from Belichick and his six seasons as a defensive coordinator.

3. He didn’t coach a great game on Sunday in the Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, giving up 538 net yards and 42 points. Patricia told Boston’s WEEI: “Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job here with the defense. Look, that is a great offense. They are extremely talented. I have been talking all week how good they are. They played really well and we just didn’t get enough stops in the end. Give them all the credit. They played outstanding.” It’s a standout because it’s the Super Bowl and the most recent game, but Patricia has three Super Bowl rings. However, this past season the Patriots ranked fifth in the NFL in points allowed per game (18.5) en route to a 13-3 record. New England held teams to 20 points or fewer in 11 games last year (2nd in NFL), including 10 games with 17 or fewer. In 2016, the team boasted the top-overall scoring defense in the NFL, allowing only 15.6 points per game.

4. Patricia will be the 27th head coach of the Detroit Lions who have never been to a Super Bowl. Heck as we all know they haven’t won a playoff game since Jan. 5, 1992.

5. He will be the second defensive coordinator hired as a first-time head coach by the Lions in the past nine years. Jim Schwartz became the Lions coach in January 2009, but the circumstances were vastly different. The Lions were coming off a 0-16 season and coaching candidates were not exactly lining up at the door. Schwartz was 42 when he was hired while Patricia is 43. He started the turn-around in culture for the Lions but just wasn’t able to get them to the next level. Patricia inherits a Lions roster that took giant steps under coach Jim Caldwell from 2014-17 but still could not win a playoff game. (Curiously enough, Schwartz is the Eagles’ defensive coordinator and now is a Super Bowl champ.)

 

So climb into my way-back machine. We’ll set the dial for Jan. 13, 2014. That’s the day many Lions fans (you know who you are) were pulling out their hair because Ken Whisenhunt decided to sign with the Tennessee Titans as head coach.

Lions’ fans loved Whisenhunt. The details of that adoration escape me now. He had some success in his first head coaching stint when he took over the Arizona Cardinals and when Kurt Warner was his quarterback. But he had three losing seasons before the Cardinals canned him in 2012.

Anyway, Lions fans thought he was THE answer. He interviewed with the Lions and, thanks to rampant speculation, it appeared he might get the job until he left Detroit and flew to Tennessee.

That’s when Jim Caldwell was hired by the Lions for his second stint as an NFL head coach. The Lions insisted Caldwell was not their second choice. Tony Dungy vouched for Caldwell and thought he was perfect for the Lions.

Still, fans did not seem sold. The day Caldwell was hired he said all the right things. He was hired to win a championship. Matthew Stafford wasn’t broken, but he could be better. When Caldwell had been hired by the Colts, Peyton Manning was young and had not won in the postseason. Caldwell stood at the podium at Ford Field in his introductory press conference and spoke like a preacher full of passion. The players loved him instantly because, first of all, he treated them like men.

In that first season (2014), Caldwell led the Lions to an 11-5 record and a visit to the playoffs.

That same season, Whisenhunt and the Titans went backwards, finishing 2-14 after going 7-9 in 2013. Whisenhunt didn’t make it all the way through his second season in Tennessee. He was fired after a 1-6 start. Overall he went 3-20 as head coach of the Titans. Ouch.

While Caldwell didn’t get the Lions to the promised land, he led them to winning seasons in three of his four years in Detroit and twice to the playoffs.

That brings us to today. (See where I’m going with this?)

Many fans in Detroit want Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as the coach to replace Caldwell. Then Peter King of MMQB.com wrote on Wednesday that Patricia might be more interested in the N.Y. Giants’ opening than Detroit.

Again, Lions fans are upset. They want Patricia and that Patriots’ pedigree to help save the day in Detroit. He and GM Bob Quinn know each other well. It would be perfect.

Certainly Patricia appears to have all the ingredients, including three Super Bowl rings, to be a good NFL head coach, but really no one knows. He’s never been a head coach, but he’s worked for Bill Belichick, one of the NFL’s best ever, since 2004. Certainly he’s learned something.

When the Patriots wrap up their postseason, Patricia can act on his decision. He can go to New York or Detroit.

If he decides on the Giants, the Lions could hire Mike Vrabel (the Texans defensive coordinator) or Pat Shurmur (the Vikings offensive coordinator) as Caldwell’s replacement. Either could be just as good or better than Patricia. No one knows who will be the best fit.

Vrabel is no consolation prize. He’s 42 and went from three seasons coaching linebackers and the defensive line at Ohio State to the Houston Texans where he coached linebackers (2014-16) and was coordinator in 2017. He’s a hot commodity.

The well-traveled Shurmur has spent two seasons an an NFL coach, but they were with the Cleveland Browns (2011-12) so not sure it counts. He finished 10-23 which actually would be looking pretty good to Browns fans these days. Look at the success he’s had with the Vikings this season even though they lost starting quarterback Sam Bradford and running back Dalvin Cook early in the season.

Go ahead and make yourself crazy until the Lions introduce their new head coach. Pick your favorite and go for it. But remember, it’s a crap-shoot. The Lions have three solid candidates but there is no way to know who could have the most success in Detroit.

Remember 2014. That’s all I ask.

 

 

After four seasons as the defensive coordinator, Teryl Austin interviewed with Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn for the head coaching opening. The team announced the interview on Tuesday. Jim Caldwell was fired on Monday.

It wasn’t the first head coaching interview in the past few years for Austin — he’s been a popular candidate across the league.

Austin, 52, was asked last week about his potential interviews for head coaching spots and if the performance this season hurt his chances.

“I don’t worry about that because I can’t control that. All I control is how, you know, do we win games? Do we give ourselves a chance to win games? Do we give ourselves a chance to get into the playoffs? And obviously we didn’t do that. And that’s really all I can control and that’s all I worry about,’’ Austin said.

He said he approaches head coaching interviews the same way.

“What I’ve done in the past is, when it came up, I just crammed and studied for it like a test. You know how that is in college, sometimes you do good, sometimes you don’t do so well,’’ Austin said.

Tuesday’s interview with Quinn should have been easy since Austin knows the team well.

Austin first came to Detroit when Caldwell was hired in January 2014.

He had his best year of leading the defense that year. The Lions’ defense was ranked second in the NFL, allowing just 300.9 yards per game. The Lions finished 11-5, all was good until they lost in the playoffs.

His strength is bending the defense to fit the talent available.

Austin and his staff have excelled at developing young talent like Darius Slay, Quandre Diggs, Anthony Zettel, Kerry Hyder, Jarrad Davis and others. Put Ziggy Ansah on that list too. The defensive end has just one year experience when Austin took over the defense.

In 2015 and 2016, the defense was ranked 15th based on yards allowed per game. The defense took a big step forward in 2017, finishing in sixth place for yards allowed (355.8 per game).

In Austin’s tenure, the secondary has evolved into the strength of the defense. Slay has improved each year, finishing with eight interceptions this season. Glover Quin should be going to the Pro Bowl with Slay for another excellent season.

In the past three years, the defensive line has not recovered from the loss of Ndamukong Suh who went to Miami after the 2014 season. Haloti Ngata was a good signing but his health has been an issue. He only played five games in 2017.

Injuries have decimated the defensive line which Austin would never use as an excuse. Still there just hasn’t been enough depth. Is that Austin’s fault?

Prior to his arrival in Detroit, Austin was the defensive backs coach with the Seahawks (2003-2006) and the Arizona Cardinals (2007-2009). He was defensive coordinator at Florida in 2010, then went to the Ravens (2011-2013) as secondary coach winning his first Super Bowl championship.

Austin worked with Caldwell when he was a graduate assistant at Penn State (1991-1992) and then moved with Caldwell to Wake Forest (1993-95) where Austin was the defensive backs coach. He was also a defensive assistant at Syracuse (1996-98) and Michigan (1999-2002).

He was a three-year starter at the University of Pittsburgh and spent one year in the CFL in Montreal.

Quinn has been around for the past two seasons. He knows Austin fairly well. Gut feeling says Quinn would not interview Austin unless he was a serious candidate.

Other interviews are expected this week.

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel will interview with Lions on Wednesday, according to MMQB’s Albert Breer.

Also Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will be interviewed on Thursday in Minnesota, per multiple reports.

The Lions are expected to interview Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia this week while New England has a bye.

The Lions will announce names of the candidates following each interview.