Getty Matt Patricia hugs Matthew Stafford after a Lions win in 2020.
The Detroit Lions are seemingly feeling good after kicking Matt Patricia to the curb a few weeks back, but even in spite of the changes, some players are taking a look back at their former coach in a positive light.
Most of the reactions after Patricia was fired have been relief for the Lions, but defensive end Trey Flowers shared a different perspective. He thinks Patricia can still be a success for another team, and his ways can still translate in the NFL as maligned as he’s been. As a result, he told the media Patricia actually deserves a second chance.
Trey Flowers said he believes Matt Patricia deserves another NFL chance.
He also praised Patricia (they go back a while) and said his ways are very successful.
Safe to say considering all the negative publicity and Patricia’s miserable 13-29-1 record as Lions head coach, few will actually buy that. Certainly it will be interesting to see what Patricia’s next gig becomes. Does he get a coordinator role and rebuild his image again leading to more coaching interest in the future? In today’s day in age, anything is possible.
Famously, the Lions have never seen one of their fired coaches become a head coach anywhere else. It seems a matter of when and not if this string is broken, and if Jim Caldwell beats Patricia to the punch. At this time, there’s no way of telling if there will be any league interest in Patricia into the future.
Even such, Flowers clearly still believes in him having the potential to be an elite coach.
Lions Players Happy Matt Patricia Gone
Since he was fired, Patricia has been referred to as a “dictator” by some coaches within the organization, and it’s clear the players are happy he is gone for the most part, saying football is fun again almost to a man. Patricia was seen to be too authoritarian as a coach, and didn’t mesh well with plenty on the team who didn’t understand his ways. Even though things got better, it’s clear that Patricia was almost universally despised by many on the team, and Detroit’s big win for Darrell Bevell over Chicago in the game after his firing only proved how much this was the case in the end.
Matt Patricia and Trey Flowers Have History
Before they linked up in Detroit, Flowers started his career in New England where Patricia was the defensive coordinator. There, they formed a bond which would help steer Flowers toward the Motor City when he was a free agent a few years back. In his career in New England, Flowers got off to a big start with the Patriots, putting up 21 acks in four years. In Detroit, the start hasn’t been as good. Flowers has just 9 sacks in a pair of seasons in Detroit, and has been dinged up much of this season with injury, though he could soon be pushing for a return according to Darrell Bevell.
Flowers, Detroit’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee, isn’t going to be a guy to speak negative about anyone, so it’s interesting to see his take on his former coach. Clearly, he believes in Patricia’s ways enough to do what nobody else is at this point in suggesting he is fit for another head coaching job in the league soon.
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