As Matt Patricia and the New England Patriots prepare for their AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Tennessee Titans this weekend, the defensive coordinator continues to be linked to another job.
Multiple reports over the past several days have noted that Patricia will likely become the next head coach of the Detroit Lions. The issue here is that nothing can be formalized until after the Patriots themselves are eliminated from the playoffs or hoist the Lombardi in Minnesota next month.
In following up on these previous reports, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan clarified the situation a bit more.
“Multiple league sources on Wednesday afternoon still believed Patricia ultimately ends up with the Lions,” Raanan reported. “His connection to general manager Bob Quinn makes it an obvious marriage.”
Bob Quinn was brought in as the Lions’ general manager back in January of 2016 after spending the previous 16 years in the Patriots’ organization. There, he worked with Patricia for 12 seasons.
This could be similar to the situation Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers found themselves in last year. The two had pretty much already agreed to a marriage, but had to wait until the Falcons’ season was over to make it official.
The one issue that could come up here is Patricia forming a coaching staff in Detroit. He can obviously talk to others about joining him with the Lions. But until his hiring is made official, they’ll be in limbo. Meanwhile, other new head coaches will be adding to their staffs as the Lions wait for New England’s season to come to a conclusion.