New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is touted as the favorite to land the Detroit Lions head coaching job. However, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News said that the New York Giants might beat them for Patricia’s services. Leonard said Patricia is expected to be named as the next coach of the Giants, replacing the fired Ben McAdoo. According to NFL rules, Patricia cannot execute a contract until the Patriots' season ends. The Patriots will play the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round of the playoffs on Saturday.
Earlier, it was reported that Patricia might join the Lions as head coach, replacing Jim Caldwell, who was fired after the team missed the playoffs.
The Lions are an ideal landing spot for Patricia because the team’s general manager Bob Quinn was a former Patriots executive. The Giants will hold their sixth and final interview with former Broncos running backs coach Eric Studesville on Wednesday. However, Leonard said that that could be moot and academic as Patricia and the Giants may have found themselves to be a perfect match.
Patricia could take some Patriots coaches with him
The 43-year-old Patricia could also take some of the Patriots' coaching staff with him. Patricia earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he played as an offensive lineman. He joined the Patriots in 2004 as offensive assistant.
In 2005, he became assistant offensive line coach before he moved to coaching linebackers from 2006 to 2010. After working as safeties coach in 2011, he was appointed full-time defensive coordinator in 2012.
Limited options for McDaniels
Aside from Patricia, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and linebackers coach Brian Flores also drew interest from other teams.
The Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears and the Giants interviewed McDaniels, while the Arizona Cardinals interviewed Flores. After the Bears hired Matt Nagy as head coach, and with the Giants interested in Patricia, McDaniels only has the Colts as his probable destination for a head coaching gig.
The Colts were also eyeing Nagy as their head coach, but the Bears beat them to the punch.
It was earlier reported that the Titans were interested in tapping McDaniels as a replacement for Mike Mularkey as head coach if they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Titans emerged a 22-21 winner over the Chiefs, keeping Mularkey’s job safe for now. If Patricia leaves the Patriots, Flores could take over his job if he’s not hired by the Cardinals as a replacement for the retired Bruce Arians.
