Matt Patricia, Detroit Lions (Photo by Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports)
Detroit Lions‘ new head coach Dan Campbell has been very vocal and visible so far. Will its effect finally turn around this forlorn franchise?
The past three seasons were not exactly a locker room lovefest. Former head coach Matt Patricia was not exactly warm and fuzzy with his players. Nor was departed general manager Bob Quinn.
Matt Patricia was officially introduced as the savior of Detroit Lions football on February 5th, 2018. Outside of his beard, no one in the Motor City really knew anything about him other than the fact he was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator and a trusted lieutenant to the dean of NFL coaches Bill Belichick.
As the man in charge of the Patriots defense, it was considered a foregone conclusion that Patricia would at least make the Lions defense fairly formidable whether he succeeded in bringing home championships or not.
Bob Quinn sang the praises of his good friend and former Patriot crony. After all 9-7 wasn’t good enough. This was about taking a playoff-caliber team and lifting it to the next level. It was about building a dynasty that would put New England to shame. Even though the reality was that Patricia would never come close to 9-7.
Patricia stormed into Allen Park and proceeded to alienate every player on the roster. He worked them as hard as he could, he verbally abused them throughout practice and if A’ Shawn Robinson it to be believed, Patricia told the former Lions defensive tackle he would end his career.
While the reports surfaced that Patricia did seem to learn from that tumultuous rookie campaign and softened a little, he still was willing to ship off talented players because they did not dance to the tune they were ordered to.
Keep in mind that players like Quandre Diggs and Darius Slay didn’t agree with Patricia or his tactics, but they both showed up and did the best they could. However, Both were broomed out in an effort to try to get addition by subtraction.
All it did was subtract talent that was not replaced and the results were predictable. Tight end T.J. Hockenson even disclosed that Bob Quinn told him he had ‘too much fun’. Isn’t the game supposed to be fun? At least it seems like the Lions’ new head coach thinks so.