What Is Matt Patricia Going To Do on Gamedays?
Prior to Sunday's Zoom media session with Detroit reporters, Lions head coach Matt Patricia had a conversation with new defensive coordinator Cory Undlin.
"He’s ready to call it and do what he’s got to do. He’s the defensive coordinator," Patricia shared Monday when asked about Undlin being named the defensive play-caller this season. "Certainly, the best part of it for me as the head coach, if I want to jump in on offense, special teams or defense, I kind of have that ability at any time -- which is always fun. We talked about it yesterday, and I said, ‘Look, they’re probably going to ask, so just tell them.' We’re going to be on the sidelines. We’re an operation like normal, and we’ll go forward from there."
Back in 2012, Patricia was promoted to become the defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots -- although he had been calling the defensive plays since 2009.
There were often questions raised regarding who was actually calling the defensive plays the past two seasons in Detroit.
Even though former defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni was a mentor and friend of Patricia's, the working relationship did not result in any meaningful success on the field.
In fact, Detroit's defense took steps backward in 2019.
Now that Patricia has yielded control to Undlin, the Eagles' former defensive backs coach, what will Patricia's role be on Sundays while the action is taking place on the field?
Detroit Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia
© Kirthmon F. Dozier via Imagn Content Services, LLC
"The philosophy for me as a head coach is to manage the game and make sure that I’m there for all three phases when questions come up," Patricia said.
"A lot of the times when I have the opportunity to watch our offense and I know what our gameplan is, I’m looking at the opponent’s defense and trying to make sure I got a good set of eyes on that so I can go back to (offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell) ‘Bev’ and I can help him maybe with what the defensive gameplan is at that point," he added.
Despite not making the defensive calls, Patricia made it known that he will utilize his role as head coach to aid in any manner he can in order to help the team secure a victory.
"Defensively, sometimes, I get a little involved there," Patricia commented further. "I’ll get over, and try to make some corrections and go through a couple of plays. I’ll walk over to the O-line, too, and I’ll coach up a technique in a heartbeat during a game. That doesn’t matter, either. So, all of it is kind of fun for me. It’s free reign where I get to help, and sometimes, I see the game a little bit differently from my lens as the head coach, as opposed to when you’re a coordinator and you’re dialed in to that call, that play, the next call or the next situation. Sometimes, (the) bigger picture stuff I can help with.”
It is evident that Patricia will still have significant input in several facets of the game -- even on special teams.
"Special teams is certainly one of the hardest areas," he said. "We need all eyes on that because there are so many bodies -- with so much space and speed -- to be able to see what happens through the course of the game, to make sure that we have a good handle on that."
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