Just because someone was a coach under Bill Belichick, it does not mean they are going to have any success as an NFL head coach. So far, this has been the case for Matt Patricia (as it has been for others in the past as well).
The Detroit Lions are 0-2 to start the season and honestly, defense has been their biggest problem (78 points allowed). We could also cherry pick and throw in the Super Bowl and say the last three times a game has counted, the Matt Patricia defense has not gotten the job done. And honestly, that’s how some news stations operate: cherry picking evidence at the buffet, and that’s unfortunate.
Patricia recently explained to the always hard-hitting media what he sees as the hardest part of establishing himself as a head coach in a new atmosphere. Here’s what he had to say:
"I think it’s always going to have some challenges when you go to a new place and you’re trying to do the best you can to coach it the way that you want it coached and do things the right way, do what you think is going to help the team win,” he said.
"There’s always challenges and there’s always actually rewards,” he continued. “There’s other aspects of it that come into play like the players and unique guys that when I got here have different ways to do things and different opinions, which is great because I think that helps you grow as a coach and kind of helps the program develop its own way.
“That’s the most important thing, is that whatever we’re trying to do out here is basically the collective kind of achievement where everybody has a say and we’re going to do some things a certain way but other things we’re going to try to do the best we can to just do it the best way or the way that suits us the best. I think that’s the best way to put it,” he concluded.
It’s definitely an interesting situation. There’s no way it’s easy to implement a Belichick-ian atmosphere onto an NFL team that doesn’t really have any sort of a winning tradition. It also hurts that Patricia is not Belichick. He’s not experienced. What does he have to command respect? Definitely a tough situation for him……