The Detroit Lions dismissed head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn on Saturday.
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will take over as interim head coach. Patricia, in his third season, was 13-29-1 during his tenure in Detroit. Quinn hired Patricia, the former defensive coordinator for Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots, after firing coach Jim Caldwell following the 2017 season.
In four seasons under Caldwell, the Lions were 36-28 and made the playoffs twice.
Quinn-Patricia pairing failed
The Lions are 4-7 and in last place in the NFC North following an uninspiring performance on Thanksgiving Day in a 41-25 loss to the Houston Texans.
Quinn took over in Detroit in January 2016 after being part of a front office that won four Super Bowls in New England. He was charged with elevating the Lions, a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since the 1991 season, and brought in Patricia, saying the GM-coach pairing was “the most important relationship in this building.”
Owner Sheila Ford Hamp, who took over from her mother, Martha Ford, earlier this year, said she had high expectations for the Lions — despite the challenges of a season impacted by COVID-19.
“The overarching thing is that we want to see major improvement and at this point I can’t really say what the specific measures are going to be because I don’t know what the season is going to be like yet,” Hamp said in June. “But believe me, major improvement is the goal.”
The Lions have lost four of their past five games and have surrendered the second-most points in the NFL, despite Patricia being a defensive-minded coach. They lost the final nine games of the 2019 season. –Field Level Media ()