Matt Patricia has plenty of coaching experience, evidenced by his many years on the Patriots staff plus a 43-game stint as the Lions head coach from 2018-2020.
But he was clearly a poor fit to help lead New England’s offense last year — a Bill Belichick decision that went sideways.
Now, Patricia is with the Eagles as a senior defensive assistant. That’s a role that seems to suit him well based on head coach Nick Sirianni’s Wednesday comments.
“[H]e’s been an excellent resource for me,” Sirianni said in his press conference. “You bring guys like that in to do just that, be resources for you, be resources for the defensive coordinator. He has a ton of experience. It’s nice to have a former head coach on the staff that I’m able to bounce some different things off of.
“Like I said, awesome, awesome resource, comes from a great coaching tree. Always been fascinated by that coaching tree, and how I can pick the brain of that so I can continue to get better as a coach and ultimately us get better as a team.”
With former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon departing the franchise to become the Cardinals head coach, the Eagles will be making some tweaks to their defense in a system now run by coordinator Sean Desai. But Patricia will have some level of influence on the scheme for the Eagles in 2023.