In what wasn’t all that much of a surprise, it was learned Friday that Matt Patricia will be returning to the Patriots next season following being fired by the Lions.
Patricia left the Patriots in 2018 to become Detroit’s head coach, but after a 13-29-1 record he was fired in the middle of this past season.
Given how close he and Bill Belichick are, it was somewhat expected the former defensive coordinator would come back New England.
So, what will his role be?
According to the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride, he “will assist the Patriots coaching staff in a variety of roles.” And Albert Breer of the MMQB added it will similar to what Mike Lombardi did a few years ago when he worked on special projects for the coach.
It does not appear Patricia will be calling the plays and jumping ahead of Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo in that regard. It also doesn’t even seem like he will be on the field working with a specific position, which could create a strange dynamic given Patricia coached Mayo and worked above Steve Belichick for many years.
As for a title? Perhaps consultant to head coach — something along those lines -- is in the works.
This is really a no-lose situation for the Patriots.
Given Patricia is under contract under 2022 with the Lions, he’s still getting paid by them so the Patriots only have to pay him a nominal salary. It won’t be the first time the organization has done something similar to this -- just look at Lombardi, Bret Bielema and Eliot Wolf in recent years.
In all three of those cases (not Bielema’s second season when he was the defensive line coach), the three people really were not seen or heard from at all. They did not conduct media interviews, were not seen much on the field and kept a low profile.
For Patricia, given how poorly things went in Detroit he likely was not going to receive much interest around the league, so coming back to the Patriots will give him a chance to remain in football and work to build his stock back up.
If the report of him having a similar role to Lombardi is true, maybe he’s looking to get into the personnel side of the game and this could be an opportunity that allows him to do that. The Patriots did lose Nick Caserio this offseason, so some of Patricia’s special projects could involve personnel.
Patricia could even eventually get back into coaching.
Just look at how Josh McDaniels was perceived following his disastrous time with the Broncos, but he was able to bounce back. We’re not saying Patricia could follow the same path, but coaches are usually given at least two chances in this league, so becoming a head coach again should not completely be ruled out.
It all remains to be seen, but no matter what the exact details are this is a good thing for the Patriots.
Brian Flores, Josh Boyer, Jerry Schuplinski, Dante Scarnecchia, Joe Judge, Chad O’Shea, Brendan Daly, Monti Ossenfort, Caserio, and Bielema have all departed in recent years, so just having a familiar face who knows how things go back in the facility will go a long way.
