Following the firing of Jim Caldwell on New Year’s Day, one day after the team’s final regular season game of 2017, a 35-11 win over the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions were suddenly on the hunt for a new head coach.
One of the hottest coaching candidates was New England Patroits defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. And coincidentally, Lions’ general manager Bob Quinn had a pre-existing relationship with Patricia, as both worked for the Pats together for several years.
Quinn joined the Patroits’ organization in 2000 as a Player personnel assistant, then he got into scouting.