Lions fire Patricia, GM Quinn
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
Matt Patricia opened his final postgame news conference with the Lions by thanking his wife and children for their support.
Patricia probably knew whatwas coming.
His boss, general manager Bob Quinn, might not have expected the same fate.
The Lions fired Patricia, above, 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 with the Patriotd.
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 joins a long list of GMs and coaches that failed to help the franchise win over the last several decades.
Since the Lions won the 1957 NFL title, they have won only one playoff game — and that was way back on 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 really 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 GM’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.
This season, the Lions (4-7) lost consecutive games for the third time and it cost Quinn and Patricia their jobs. The Lions collapsed in a 41-25 loss to the Texans at home on Thanksgiving after getting shut out for the first time in 11 years in the previous game against the Panthers.
Patricia was 13-29-1 in twoplus seasons and Quinn’s mark was 12 games under .500 over five seasons.