Lions’ Patricia claims innocence
a March 1996 story in the Brownsville (Texas) Herald, said Patricia and a friend were accused of entering the hotel room where the woman was sleeping and sexually assaulting her. The men were arrested later that night and released on bond, according to the story and court records.
The indictment came that August, but the case was eventually dismissed. The Detroit News posted a motion to dismiss from January 1997, which said the alleged victim did not feel she could “face the pressures or stress of a trial.”
Patricia's first NFL coaching job was as an assistant with the New England Patriots in 2004, and he remained with them through last season, when he was the defensive coordinator. He was hired by the Lions in February to replace Jim Caldwell.
Before joining the Patriots, Patricia worked as a graduate assistant in 1996 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his alma mater. That was before he spent two years working as an aeronautical engineer. Patricia was an assistant coach at Amherst and a graduate assistant at Syracuse before moving on to the NFL.
“I've interviewed for a lot of jobs,” Patricia said. “Interviewing for jobs in engineering right after the situation happened, it was never an issue, it never came up as anything, because it was dismissed, and I was innocent, so it just has never been part of any process that I've been involved with.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the team wasn't aware of the legal case and expressed support for Patricia.
“For 14 years in our organization, Matt conducted himself with great integrity and is known to be an outstanding coach, person and family man,” Belichick said in a statement. “We have always been confident in Matt's character and recommended him highly to become the head coach of the Detroit Lions.”