Matt Patricia is Returning to the Patriots. The Belichick Whisperer was Right Again.
Well, well, well. After a brief but unequivocally unsuccessful stint in charge of the most unsuccessful franchise of the Super Bowl era, Matt Patricia returns to New England. The Detroit Lions culture of losing was beyond his capacity to fix. As I wrote when the Lions kicked him down the stairs in late November:
[I]n his 2+ seasons, here are where his units ranked:
- Offense, yards: 24th, 17th, 22nd
- Offense points: 25th, 18th, 22nd
- Defense, yards: 10th, 31st, 27th
- Defense, points: 16th, 26th, 30th
And:
In the short time he was with the Lions Patricia:
Took heat from former players and local sports media for making players run laps after mental errors in practice.
Tore a reporter a new corn chute for having lousy posture at one of his press conferences.
Was criticized for holding a practice outdoors in the snow and responded with a 900-word explanation.
Was mocked by the Jets who said they knew all his plays. That after a game in which the cameras caught him at the end of his rope.
And more recently ripped by one of his own players for having "a Patriots attitude."
So with the stench of all that still in his clothes and his beard, who could've seen him ever being brought back to New England?
Guess who. Did Old Balls do it again or did Old Balls do it again? From the same post:
Patricia absolutely left on good terms. This wasn't a Fredo Mangini situation where he went against the Family to make a deal on his own and then betrayed the man who gave him everything. Patricia was given the Don's blessing to start his own family. He's stayed in Belichick's good graces, grabassing with them at Senior Bowl practices and socializing with them outside of work. …
One thing that is not worth considering when it comes to bringing him back is worrying about stepping on anyone's toes [by this I'm obviously referring to Steve Belichick] and bruising egos. There's a certain job security that comes with being raised by birth to be a defensive football coach like one would raise a veal calf. Especially when the guy who did the raising is the only one calling the shots. Roles get changed on Belichick's coaching staff every year without fail. Last year's safeties coach in next year's linebackers coach is calling plays next year, with or without the DC job title. No hard feelings.
My guess is that Patricia will come back in some capacity. Someone who was raised in this system and knows it forwards and backwards and can be another set of eyes trying to diagnose why they were utterly ineffective against the Texans and who has the boss' trust. In the way McDaniels was brought in to sidekick for Bill O'Brien back in 2011.
And by bringing Patricia back, you close the book on yet another one of Belichick's minions who was sent out into the world to destroy yet another NFL team from within. Time to come back from the field and return to HQ for debriefing. Mission accomplished. And now we wait for the next loser franchise to hire the next Patriots assistant and we do it all over again.
So you'll have to excuse me a moment while I take yet another victory lap in a career of Belichick Whispering that has been legendary for such correct predictions about what this unpredictable man will do. It's successes like this have allowed me to live a life some consider a myth. And will continue to.
And with this, another mind filled with knowledge about how the Patriots system works returns to reverse the Brain Drain of the past three years that included his own departure as well as those of Joe Judge, Brian Flores and Nick Caserio. Patricia returns probably wiser. For sure happy to come back to an organization that values hard work, discipline and accountability the way the Lions never have and never will. And Barstool gets yet another loyal Stoolie back on the sidelines of an NFL team. This is one of those moments where everyone wins. Not the least of whom is the guy who saw this coming a month and a half ago.
