NFL coach out
Former RPI player and assistant coach fired in his third NFL season
Lions fire former RPI player and assistant coach Matt Patricia./
Matt Patricia opened his final postgame news conference with the Detroit Lions on Thursday by thanking his wife and children for their support.
Patricia, a former player and assistant coach at RPI, probably knew what was coming.
His boss, general manager Bob
Quinn, might not have expected the same fate.
The Lions on Saturday fired Patricia and Quinn, who hired the coach to replace Jim Caldwell, and effectively ended the franchise’s attempt to replicate the success the men helped Bill Belichick achieve in New England.
The moves were made Saturday, surprising no one.
“It clearly wasn’t working,” Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp said on a Zoom call with reporters.
The duo join a long list of general managers and coaches who failed to help the franchise win over the last several decades.
Since Detroit won the 1957 NFL title, it has won only one playoff game — Jan. 5, 1992.
“We can’t hide our past, that’s for sure,” said Hamp, who succeeded her mother in June to lead the franchise her late father bought in 1963. “But I’m very dedicated to turning this ship around and making a difference.”
Darrell Bevell, who has 14 seasons of experience as an offensive coordinator, will be the team’s interim coach for the final five
games. The general manager’s duties will be handled on an interim basis by Kyle O’brien, Lance Newmark, Rob Lohman and Mike Disner, all of whom worked for Quinn in the team’s front office.
The Lions (4-7) lost consecutive games for the third time this season, and it cost Quinn and Patricia their jobs. Detroit collapsed in a 41-25 loss to Houston at home Thursday after getting shut out for the first time in 11 years in the previous game at Carolina.
“I’m just really appreciative of my family, my wife, my kids,” Patricia said Thursday before taking questions from reporters on a Zoom call. “My wife does a lot behind the scenes and from that standpoint I appreciate her a lot.”
The setbacks dropped Patricia to 13-29-1 in twoplus seasons, and Quinn’s mark fell 12 games under .500 over five seasons. The most recent losses led to the end of their careers with the Lions.
“Ten days ago, we looked like we had a good chance to be playoff bound and both of those games were
extremely disappointing,” Hamp said. “Yes, we thought it was a good time to make a change.”
Quinn was hired in January of 2016. He retained Caldwell and Detroit reached the playoffs but then fired him the next season after another 9-7 record wasn’t enough to earn a postseason berth.