In 2017, Jim Caldwell led the Lions to their third winning campaign in four seasons. It wasn’t enough to save his job. The Lions fired Caldwell and replaced him with Patriots defensive guru Matt Patricia, three years ago today. 
Patricia had lots of hype heading into this cycle. He also had a longstanding relationship with Detroit GM Bob Quinn, who previously worked in New England. After working his way up through the Pats’ ranks, Patricia served as their DC for six seasons. During that period, the Patriots’ defense never ranked lower than tenth in points allowed. And, of course, his final day with the team nearly ended in yet another Super Bowl ring, before Nick Foles got in the way.
It seems like just yesterday that Patricia was regarded as the perfect fit. It’s a reminder of how quickly things can change in the NFL. After a combined 13-29 record and an ugly Thanksgiving Day loss, the Lions sent the 46-year-old packing. Now, he’s going back to New England to serve in multiple assistant coaching roles on Bill Belichick‘s staff. Meanwhile, the Lions are moving forward with Dan Campbell, who will have Jared Goff leading his offense.
Pretty funny how a rocket scientist can suck so bad as a head coach.
Smooth as sandpaper, that decision.
This guy was clearly out of his element without daddy Bill to prop him up.
Best of luck Matty P. Thanks for the years of nothing.
2018 was 3 years ago. Wow.
If Patricia made them miss Caldwell, I wonder how long it will take before Campbell makes them miss Patricia?
Further proof that just because you worked on Bill’s staff doesn’t mean you’d make a good HC.
Defensive guru, ha! And right after, his defense was torched in the super bowl.
Guru is a really overused word, isn’t it?
Yep, like “genius” or “great”.