Getty Matt Patricia coaches the Lions in Oakland.
Matt Patricia has come under fire for his leadership of the Detroit Lions the last two seasons, but a successful former NFL coach thinks Detroit’s boss simply needs some space and more time.
According to Dick Vermeil, it would be wrong for the team’s ownership to pull the plug on Patricia after this season before he is allowed to get his program in place completely. Speaking to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Vermeil detailed some of his own experiences in the NFL, and admitted he knows how the Lions must proceed with Patricia.
Here’s a look at part of his explanation to Birkett as to what he would do with Patricia and why:
“It’s with his own personal experience in mind that Vermeil told the Free Press this week “the biggest mistake (Detroit Lions) ownership could make” would be firing Matt Patricia as head coach.
Vermeil, who does not know Patricia, said he’s attended one NFL game in person this year: The Lions’ Week 3 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and he was impressed with what he saw.
“To start all over again, especially after losing your quarterback, my God,” Vermeil said. “You got to be careful. I say this, you can’t allow the fans and the media to make business, quality coaching decisions. And I really believe sometimes there are cities and organizations that are influenced by the radio talk shows and what the media says. Boy, it can kill you.”
Vermeil, of course, went on to win big in the league capturing Super Bowl XXXIV with the St. Louis Rams and also competing in Super Bowl XV with the Philadelphia Eagles. He accomplished this in spite of tough starts in both places, and in the piece with Birkett, credits ownership for giving him time and space to institute his culture and develop an eventual winner.
The Lions have been close in 2019 and has not given up in games, but has not gotten over the hump but once with Patricia as coach against teams with a winning record. That’s a glaring fact which seems to indicate the Lions have a major problem on their hands.
Even such, there’s a temptation to think that Patricia has merely had a bad hand dealt to him in terms of injuries in 2019. Detroit started 2-0-1 and were in contention into October until the bottom completely fell out and players started getting hurt. Weighing whether or not that’s the main reason for the problems of the team will be the job of Martha Ford and her ownership team in a few weeks.
So far, mum has been the word as it relates to that.
Writers Calling for Lions to Fire Matt Patricia
It’s safe to say several writers probably disagree with Vermeil’s assessment. According to a couple of writers, the end for Patricia should be near as coach of the Lions after how miserable things have turned for Detroit in 2019. According to Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News, it’s time for Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn to go. Here’s just a portion of what he had to say.
It didn’t end there, however. NJ.com’s Darryl Slater had Patricia high on his list of hot seat rankings for coaches placing only behind Pat Shurmur. According to Slater, Patricia simply isn’t a good coach whatsoever.
Patricia is taking heat from quite possibly every single angle as his season has spiraled out of control.
Matt Patricia’s Lions Tenure
Patricia came to the Lions fresh off success in New England in 2018, and struggled out of the gate to capture the attention of the locker room. A bumpy start paved the way to a more solid finish in 2018 with the team only winning six games, but defeating squads like the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, which offered hope.
Patricia has helped the Lions stay in games for the most part in 2019, something which the team struggled with in 2018, but has not gotten them over the hump at closing. That’s perhaps his biggest wart so far as a boss, combined with a lousy defense that has not picked up the program whatsoever. Patricia might get more of a pass considering the absurd amount of injuries he’s dealt with, but it’s hard to ignore that in his tenure as coach, the Lions have had the same discipline problems plague them that always have through the years.
The bet is that both Patricia and Quinn get a mulligan on 2019 considering the rash of injuries that have set the team back, while also living with the understanding that 2020 is likely the make or break year for this group.
Patricia keeps maintaining the Lions are better than their record says, and if Vermeil is to be believed, he should get another shot to show why that is the case in 2020.
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