04/19/24
November 28, 2020
Matt Patricia is gone, and so is the GM who ran Jim Caldwell out of town to give Patricia the job.: Dan Quinn said Caldwell's 36-28 record (with two playoff appearances) wasn't good enough. So, he sent Caldwell packing and brought in Patricia, who went 13-29-1 in three seasons. Quinn and Patricia are now officially unemployed. Detroit OC Darrell Bevell takes over the train wreck that they left behind.
posted by The_Black_Hand to football at 03:50 PM - 17 comments
posted by Howard_T at 03:58 PM on November 28, 2020
He was fired because he wouldn't promise not to wear his favorite Roger Goodell t-shirt.
posted by Howard_T at 04:04 PM on November 28, 2020
Crap! Can't get the link to work. I think most of you understand.
posted by Howard_T at 04:06 PM on November 28, 2020
And this was the very moment that both of them lost their job.
posted by NoMich at 04:06 PM on November 28, 2020
I knew they'd make Bevell the interim. The guy who dialed up the Seahawks goal line pass to lose the Super Bowl. Who better?
The Lions job is actually not a bad situation for a prospective GM who has some ability and knows how to hire a good HC. The Ford family is more hands off than some owners and has shown that if anything, they are too patient.
Cue the Twilight Zone theme: Patricia was fired at about the same time that the Michigan Wolverines were wrapping up an ugly loss to Penn State. (The Lions would be out of their minds to hire Harbaugh.)
It would be shocking if Patricia rejoined the Patriots the way Josh McDaniels did after he flamed out in Denver. The Pats D was much better after Patricia left and Flores was running it.
As a highly telegenic legacy NFL team, if the Lions became good, it would be a big deal around the league. The way the Bears suddenly became awesome in the mid 1980's - that was a very big deal. People greatly admired the Niners, but they foamed at the mouth about the Bears.
My dream Super Bowl is still Lions-Browns. I don't follow either team, but I'd like to see them face each other in the big game, and visually, with the Lions in their home unis, the broadcast would be a vivid spectacle.
posted by beaverboard at 06:02 PM on November 28, 2020
Patricia is about the worst head coach the NFL has ever seen.
Caldwell is a great option for anyone who needs a leader (COWBOYS). He had a winning record piloting a franchise where HOF talent chose to retire because of the futility of the organization.
posted by cixelsyd at 06:35 PM on November 28, 2020
Flores bringing Caldwell on staff in Miami was a great decision.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:05 PM on November 28, 2020
Some teams respond well after this type of change is made mid season.
The Texans have been a livelier team since they canned O'Brien .
Ditching Patricia is such a relief that the Lions could have a surge that exceeds the talent level of their roster. Or their coaching staff.
In fact, getting beaten badly by none other than the Texans may have been the clincher.
"Yo, fellow Fords, that could be us."
posted by beaverboard at 08:42 PM on November 28, 2020
Maybe they'll be able to pry Eric Bieniemy away from KC.
posted by LionIndex at 10:16 PM on November 28, 2020
I have a feeling that Coach Bieniemy would rather opt for his senior year in KC than leave early for Detroit. Remember when Jerry Richardson had his bizarre Al Davis like press conference and, like, a day later, Andrew Luck was all "nah, I'll stay at Stanford for my senior year."?
posted by NoMich at 11:36 PM on November 28, 2020
For me the lasting impression of Patricia's tenure is the weird meltdown he had early on about a reporter's posture. You don't get to be as crusty as Belichick on day one. It has to be earned by success.
More than any other franchise in the league, the Lions deserve their own Theo Epstein era. Their playoff history in the past 50 years is brutal. One win!
posted by rcade at 10:55 AM on November 29, 2020
Does any other football team have t-shirts associated with it that say "just once before I die"?
posted by LionIndex at 12:32 PM on November 29, 2020
Patricia had nothing. No connection or cred with players and wanted to portray some sort of fake altitude with media. Bundle that in with the fact he had no idea how to handle head coaching duties and it's quite evident why the Lions are such a tire fire under his tenure.
posted by cixelsyd at 09:16 PM on November 29, 2020
My Detroit Lions, 50 years of rebuilding and getting nowhere. I was three years old when they won their last championship, I was hoping to see them in the super bowl before I die. Not looking good.
posted by ic23b at 09:42 PM on November 29, 2020
I don't know about that, ic23b. Maybe we finally lucked into a Ford family member that is sick of the losing?
posted by NoMich at 09:02 AM on November 30, 2020
t-shirts associated with it that say "just once before I die"
Not sure about the NFL but I think in the NHL, there were some similar shirts made up either before or after the Rangers finally won a(nother) Cup in 1994 and maybe for the Blackhawks too when they finally broke through in 2010.
That was a great twitter pic of Sheila Ford Hamp sitting in the owner's box with her face covered. I was wishing her middle name began with "M". Then her initials would be "SMH".
There may well be a curse on the Lions after the refs jobbed the Steelers on the Thanksgiving day overtime coin toss in 1998 and awarded the ball to Detroit.
posted by beaverboard at 09:35 AM on November 30, 2020
Patricia is about the worst head coach the NFL has ever seen.
You're gonna break Rich Kotite's heart.
posted by yerfatma at 03:24 PM on December 02, 2020