Matt Patricia - Pro Football Rumors

Lions Hire Matt Patricia As Head Coach

February 5th, 2018 at 2:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

As expected, the Lions made it official on Monday in announcing Matt Patricia will be their next head coach. Now that the 2017 season is over, the two teams who waited for the Patriots’ season to end are free to announce agreements.

This hire has been expected for more than three weeks, and the longtime New England DC can begin to fully assemble his first Detroit staff.

“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,” Lions GM Bob Quinn said. “He has been preparing for this opportunity his entire career, and he’s ready for the responsibility and its challenges.

“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.”

Patricia served as Patriots DC for six seasons but spent 14 years with the franchise, going straight from being a Syracuse graduate assistant to working on Bill Belichick‘s staff. The 43-year-old Patricia is coming off his first Super Bowl defeat as Pats DC, but he served on staff for six of the eight Super Bowls in the Belichick era.

The Lions are expected to retain OC Jim Bob Cooter and are not certain to hire a defensive coordinator, with Patricia expected to run that unit. They will have an entirely new defensive staff regardless.

Latest On Giants’ Pat Shurmur Hire

January 28th, 2018 at 7:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

A difference between how Pat Shurmur approached his Giants interview helped land him the job. The former Vikings OC conducted his Giants meeting in a fashion that left no doubt the Giants were his first choice, which is something, per Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv, team management couldn’t see in Josh McDaniels or Matt Patricia.

While Vacchiano reports some in the Giants’ organization preferred the two Patriots coordinators to Shurmur “until the very end,” he notes Shurmur left “by far” the strongest first impression on the Giants of the candidates summoned. One of the reasons management was sold on Shurmur was his desire to land the Giants’ job was far more evident than the other finalists’. Vacchiano writes McDaniels appeared to be more interested in the Colts’ job because of Andrew Luck‘s presence, and Patricia’s Lions connection turned out to be very real.

Multiple sources informed Vacchiano that Shurmur was at one point viewed as the favorite in Arizona and that his personality would work better there, but the former Browns coach, per the Giants, was intent on securing the New York job.

Shurmur’s interview, one John Mara ranked as arguably the best he’s seen, resulted in him edging the New England assistants after they’d been viewed as previous favorites. Shurmur also made the strongest connection with Dave Gettleman of the six candidates interviewed, which is interesting given Steve Wilks‘ history with the new Giants GM. Vacchiano notes Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin did not see eye to eye on key components of the team in their final years together, with a specific disagreement involving the team’s offensive line approach, and adds Mara appeared to indicate Reese and Ben McAdoo weren’t meshing as well as they’d hoped to.

Mara indicated a head coach/GM partnership was critical here, and Shurmur — who made a point of saying how much stock he places in repairing the Giants’ offensive front — appears to be in stride with Gettleman at this point.

Mara previously said he wanted a head coach with previous experience leading a team, and Vacchiano reports Shurmur was “much more willing” to accept his wrongdoings from his first job (with the 2011-12 Browns) than McDaniels (fired midway through his second Broncos season in 2010) was. Shurmur made clear he will hire an offensive coordinator, identifying that as a mistake from his first Cleveland campaign. The Giants ultimately ruled out Wilks because of his lack of experience.

Shurmur also spoke with Eli Manning on the phone on Wednesday from the Senior Bowl and then sat down with the franchise passer in the Giants’ cafeteria on Friday, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports. Considering Gettleman’s praise for Manning, and what Shurmur offered about the quarterback’s future at his press conference, it’s starting to look like a strong bet he will be back in New York for his age-37 season.

Schwartz writes Shurmur’s approach with Manning differs from Coughlin’s with Kerry Collins, whom the Giants replaced with Manning in 2004. Coughlin ignored Collins when they saw each other at the facility during the months his and Collins’ tenures overlapped in ’04, Schwartz recalls.

Coaching Notes: Falcons, McDaniels, Titans

January 21st, 2018 at 10:39am CST by Sam Robinson

The Falcons were set to add Darrell Bevell and Ken Dorsey to their quarterbacks coach interview list, but they might not have gotten around to it by the time they arrived at their decision. Greg Knapp will replace Bush Hamdan as Atlanta’s QBs coach, Alex Marvez of Sporting News reports. The 54-year-old Knapp did not coach in the NFL last season and spent the previous four years coaching the Broncos’ quarterbacks.

Knapp will return to Atlanta in a different capacity; he was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator from 2004-06. Running the most successful of the Michael Vick offenses, Knapp also was OC with the 49ers, Raiders (two stints) and Seahawks. The one-season stay in Seattle (2009) overlapped with Dan Quinn, who was the Seahawks’ defensive line coach from 2009-10. Knapp’s Broncos work may look a bit better now considering how far their quarterback play fell this season, and the Falcons are hoping he can help return Matt Ryan to top-tier status after a down year.

Here’s the latest from the coaching circuit.

Mike Vrabel‘s Titans deal is a five-year agreement, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). This is a noticeably bigger commitment to a first-time HC than the franchise made to Mike Mularkey, who was then set for his third go-round as a head coach. Mularkey received a three-year commitment in 2016.
Josh McDaniels was only seriously interested in the Colts and Giants‘ jobs, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes, adding that the Titans could have had a shot at the Patriots’ OC had they fired Mularkey late in what was an inconsistent regular season. McDaniels and Jon Robinson worked together in New England.
Volin adds McDaniels is not scared off by Andrew Luck‘s recent health history despite the Colts having redshirted their cornerstone performer this season. Luck still doesn’t have a firm timetable to return, but McDaniels signing on points to confidence he will be back come 2018.
Matt Patricia is not certain to hire a defensive coordinator with the Lions, Volin notes. Patricia will run the Lions’ defense regardless. This was the job he was connected to throughout the offseason, and despite reports emerging the Giants had him among their finalists, Volin notes that wasn’t the case. McDaniels and Pat Shurmur are believed to be the only HC candidates the Giants were considering, per Volin.
Paul Guenther‘s deal as Raiders DC is a four-year pact, Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. The Bengals made a “lucrative” offer to try to keep Guenther in his previous position after his contract expired, but after 15 seasons in Cincinnati, the veteran assistant wanted to work with Jon Gruden. Guenther said the Raiders will be running “80 to 90 percent” of what the Vikings run under Mike Zimmer, so the Raiders will have a firmer commitment to the 4-3 than in years past.
Josh McDaniels may well look to bring his younger brother with him to Indianapolis, Volin writes. The 37-year-old Ben McDaniels worked as a Bears offensive assistant for the past two seasons. He also served in that role for the 2009 Broncos before Josh McDaniels promoted him to quarterbacks coach in 2010, so it appears likely the brothers will reunite with the Colts soon.
The Titans will lose wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson to the college ranks. Jackson served as Tennessee’s wideouts coach for just one season, and he’ll take over the same job at Baylor, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com reports. The former NFL wideout was a college receivers coach from 2008-16.

Latest On Lions’ Head Coaching Search

January 14th, 2018 at 9:16pm CST by Ben Levine

We’ve been hearing for several weeks that the Lions are set to make Matt Patricia their next head coach, and a report tonight from Albert Breer backs this sentiment. Breer tweets that the Lions have been informing other candidates that they’ve been eliminated from contention for the gig, and the organization is moving forward with the assumption that Patricia will be their head coach once the Patriots’ season ends.

Despite rumblings that Patricia had more interest in the Giants head coaching gig, reports from this morning indicated that Patricia would ultimately accept the Lions job. There have been whispers that Patricia would land in Detroit since the beginning of January, and there were even rumors that he could take the Lions job before the team fired former coach Jim Caldwell.

The Patriots defensive coordinator seems to be a natural fit for the Lions, especially when you consider his relationship with general manager Bob Quinn (who previously worked in New England). After working his way up through the Patriots coaching staff, Patricia was named defensive coordinator back in 2012. In six seasons in the role, the Patriots’ defense has never ranked lower than tenth in points allowed.

Our Head Coaching Tracker shows that Patricia was only one of many candidates to be interviewed by the Lions. The organization also reached out to 2017 coordinators Teryl Austin and Jim Bob Cooter, Packers assistant head coach Winston Moss, Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, and Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel.

Matt Patricia Expected To Become Lions’ HC

January 14th, 2018 at 8:18am CST by Rory Parks

This sounds familiar. Although Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was said to prefer the Giants’ head coaching job to the Lions’, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets that Patricia is expected to become the Lions’ next head coach, as we heard last week.

Patricia, whose defense was quite impressive in New England’s win over the Titans last night, has been a hot head coaching candidate for several years now thanks to his overall body of work with the Pats. Even before the Lions parted ways with former head coach Jim Caldwell, there were plenty of reports linking Patricia to Detroit, as he has a preexisting relationship with Lions GM Bob Quinn stemming from Quinn’s tenure with the Patriots.

And on January 6, it was reported that the Lions would indeed hire Patricia. Just several days later, however, Peter King of TheMMQB.com indicated that Patricia preferred the Giants to the Lions, which threw something of a wrench into this season’s coaching carousel. But Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that his understanding all along has been that Patricia would accept the Lions’ job. Indeed, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes, Detroit would have moved on to other candidates if it did not believe Patricia was coming to the Motor City.

Of course, as New England’s season is not yet over, the Lions and Patricia will have to wait to make things official. Birkett adds (via Twitter) that Patricia is likely to retain Detroit’s incumbent offensive coordinator, Jim Bob Cooter.

Coaching Rumors: Flores, Giants, Bears

January 13th, 2018 at 4:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although finalists have emerged in the Giants and Colts’ HC searches, the Cardinals may be taking a more methodical approach. And despite Brian Flores lacking the coordinator experience others in the mix for the Arizona job do, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets the Patriots’ linebackers coach is very much a live candidate for the job. The Cardinals have interviewed Flores, incumbent DC James Bettcher, Pats DC Matt Patricia, Eagles DC Jim Schwartz, Vikings OC Pat Shurmur, Panthers DC Steve Wilks, Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak and Falcons ST coordinator Keith Armstrong. This franchise has cast the widest net yet in this year’s coaching carousel, so determining frontrunner status is a bit more complicated here than it is in the three other searches. Patricia’s name has been linked as a finalist with the Lions and Giants, however.

Here’s the latest from the coaching ranks:

With four HC vacancies remaining and the Giants reportedly identifying three finalists — Patricia, Shurmur and Josh McDaniels — the franchise might need a sleeper candidate if the aforementioned trio each takes a job elsewhere, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes the thinking is Schwartz is that mystery choice. The Giants requested an interview with the former Lions coach, but the sides couldn’t get one scheduled.
Patricia doesn’t plan on letting it slip which way he’s leaning until after the Patriots‘ season concludes, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets (video link). The Patriots returning to the Super Bowl could put the Giants and Lions to difficult decisions, if Patricia indeed does not decide until season’s end. Rapoport speculates the Lions as perhaps a slight favorite here. The Lions may be going all-in on Patricia, Florio writes, to the point it’s unclear whom Detroit would tab if Patricia chose the Giants.
Chris Tabor will return to the Bears as their special teams coordinator, the team announced. Tabor coached the Browns’ ST units for the past seven seasons but prior to that served as Chicago’s assistant ST coordinator from 2008-10. Tabor made it through four coaching regimes in Cleveland, remaining on staff through the Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski, Mike Pettine and Hue Jackson runs.
Brock Olivo‘s first crack as a special teams coordinator did not go well, with the Broncos firing him after one season. But the Browns interviewed Olivo for the ST job open after the team let Tabor leave, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
The Bears will hire Kevin Gilbride Jr. to coach their tight ends. The 39-year-old son of the retired OC, Gilbride coached under his father from 2010-13 and stayed on as Giants tight ends coach the past four seasons.

Latest On The Giants’ HC Search

January 12th, 2018 at 5:29pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Giants have interviewed six candidates for their vacant head coach position and could start to be moving more quickly on completing their search in the next week. Of the six coaches they’ve interviewed, it appears that Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Patriots’ coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia are the favorites to land the position, according to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.

All three candidates have garnered interest from around football and should either the Patriots or Vikings be eliminated from the playoffs this weekend, Vacchiano thinks that the “Giants could have a new coach in place by next week”. If both teams take care of business at home in the Divisional Round, the process will likely extend another two weeks as the Giants management tries to figure out a way to get one last meeting with their top choice, whoever that may be.

Shurmur and McDaniels look like natural fits for the job as they have an offensive background and previous head coaching experience. The team has been rumored to want experience in whoever they hire and could also want someone who has the ability to get the most out of a young quarterback, should they choose to draft either Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen with the number two overall selection in April’s draft. However, Patricia clearly impressed in his initial interview enough to have the Giants move away from their original checklist.

In a wrinkle to Vacchiano’s story, there could be another sleeper candidate lurking behind the scenes, reports Tom Rock and Bob Glauber of Newsday. A source told the writers that should all three candidates land other positions with the likes of Arizona, Detroit and Indianapolis, the team has a backup plan. While no names were given for who that prospective fourth coach could be, Rock and Glauber speculated that defensive coordinators Steve Wilks and Jim Schwartz could be options as well as Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who was passed over for the Bears head coaching gig.

New York has officially interviewed McDaniels, Patricia, Shurmur, Wilks, Steve Spagnuolo and Eric Studesville. They could also eventually interview Schwartz, even though his previously scheduled interview has been put on hold.

Steve Wilks No Longer In Running For Giants’ Job?

January 11th, 2018 at 5:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

The full assortment of Giants decision-makers only attended the Steve Wilks HC interview earlier this week, with co-owner Steve Tisch joining Big Blue brass in meeting with the Panthers’ DC. But Wilks may have to concentrate on other options going forward.

The Giants are believed to be down to three finalists for their top coaching job: Vikings OC Pat Shurmur and Patriots coordinators Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels. Wilks did not make the cut after the first round of meetings, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports.

Each of these coaches are preparing for divisional-round games, so the Giants look to be willing to wait to make their hire. Patricia is said to prefer the Giants to the Lions, who were once reported to have zeroed in on Patricia as the favorite to land their job. McDaniels might be a better bet to become the next Colts coach as well; he interviewed for both Indianapolis and New York’s HC vacancies. The Cardinals are also in on Shurmur.

An unofficial agreement could be reached between the Giants and one of these candidates, a la the 49ers’ process with Kyle Shanahan, but New York must wait until the Vikings or Patriots is eliminated to make an official hire.

Schwartz notes the Giants believe McDaniels would work well with their next quarterback, or with Eli Manning, and the team may view Shurmur as the most well-rounded candidate. The New York-based reporter adds the Giants are also concerned McDaniels might still not be ready, considering what happened the first time he was a head coach, and might not be comfortable with a strong GM presence. The Giants are also unsure, per Schwartz, Patricia brings the “CEO-type” leadership Dave Gettleman covets in an HC.

Matt Patricia Prefers Giants To Lions

January 10th, 2018 at 2:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots are bracing for Matt Patricia to leave, but it might not be for the Lions’ head coaching job. The defensive guru is also up for the Giants’ job and he prefers the G-Men to the Lions, Peter King of The MMQB hears.

If Patricia is offered the Giants’ head coaching position and accepts, it will have a domino effect reaching Detroit and beyond. If Patricia goes to the Giants, the Lions may pivot to Houston defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel, King hears. If that happens, Vrabel would be out of the running for the Colts’ HC job.

The Giants were abysmal in 2017, but they have lots of talent to work with on defense including cornerback Janoris Jenkins and defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon. If Patricia can get underperforming youngsters like Eli Apple on the right track, the Giants could return to having one of the better defensive units in the NFL. The Giants also have the No. 2 overall pick at their disposal, so Patricia’s preference towards New York is understandable.

Lions Likely To Hire Matt Patricia

January 6th, 2018 at 7:50pm CST by Zachary Links

It sounds like Matt Patricia is ready to leave the nest. The Patriots are bracing for their defensive coordinator to leave, most likely to become the next head coach of the Lions, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of PFT.

As shown in PFR’s Head Coaching Search Tracker, Patricia is up for three jobs with the Lions, Cardinals, and Giants all showing interest. If the Lions are indeed hiring him, they’ll have to wait until the Patriots’ season is officially over to put pen to paper. However, they could reach a handshake agreement with him before that point.

Patricia has been praised for his defensive acumen and his pre-existing relationship with GM Bob Quinn gives him an advantage over others who are up for the job. If Patricia is the hire in Detroit, it will have a ripple effect across the league and possibly displace incumbent coordinators Jim Bob Cooter (offense) and Teryl Austin (defense). Both Austin and Cooter met with the team about a potential promotion to HC.

The Patriots’ postseason gets underway next Saturday in the divisional round.