By Jordan Long
The Detroit Lions are preparing to take on the Chicago Bears this Sunday. Detroit is hoping to improve on their 4-7 record. When they take the field, Darrell Bevell will be the interim Head Coach after Detroit fired Matt Patricia following their Thanksgiving loss to the Houston Texans.
Patricia was hired by the Lions on February 5, 2018. This was after Detroit let Jim Caldwell go. Caldwell was in Detroit for 4 years. Detroit went 36-28, a winning percentage of .563. The Lions appeared in the playoffs twice, but both times their seasons ended with losses in the Wild Card Round. The Lions thought Caldwell didn’t do a great job and they wanted a coach who could lead this team deeper into the playoffs.
Patricia didn’t have any Head Coaching experience. He was the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots from 2012 to 2017. With his defense, New England won 3 Super Bowls. The Lions were hoping his defensive style would help the Lions win more games than with Caldwell. The goal was to win a playoff game. The Lions haven’t won a playoff game since 1991 when they beat the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round.
The Lions were awful under Patricia. They won 6 games in 2018. In 2019 they had 3 victories. At the start of this year, Patricia was on the hot seat. The Lions needed to become a winning team for him to keep his job. That hasn’t happened yet. The Lions are 4-7. Thanksgiving was the last straw. The defense gave up 41 points and didn’t look competitive. It was time to let him go. Patricia leaves the Lions with a disappointing record of 13-19-1, a dreadful winning percentage of .314.
Bevell has never been a Head Coach. He is the offensive coordinator for the Lions and has been in Detroit for the past 2 years. He has his chance to prove he should be the Head Coach next year. Even if the Lions don’t win that many games but are competitive, he will get consideration.
If not, there are plenty of candidates the Lions should consider. Those could include Eric Bieniemy, Dennis Allen, Jason Garrett, and David Shaw. Bieniemy has never been a Head Coach at any level but is the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. With the offense he is running with the Chiefs, he will be high on every franchise’s list. He could help the Lions to become a more powerful offense.
Dennis Allen and Jason Garrett have NFL Head Coaching experience. Allen is the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator. He served as the Raiders Head Coach from 2012 to 2014. It didn’t go well. The Raiders were 8-28 under Allen, a winning percentage of .222. He was fired 4 games into the 2014 season. Allen deserves a second chance to show his time with the Raiders was a fluke.
Garrett is the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants. He spent 10 seasons as the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2010 to 2019. Dallas was 85-67 under him and went to the playoffs 3 times. He knows how to turn a franchise around. The Lions should consider him because behind Bieniemy, he might be the biggest name out there.
David Shaw is a long shot. He is currently the Head Coach at the University of Stanford. Shaw is in his 10th year there. Going into this weekend, Stanford is 87-36 under him, an impressive winning percentage of .707 with 8 Bowl Game appearances. Shaw may not want to leave Stanford. He has turned the program around and as a college coach, he can recruit the players he wants. There isn’t as much pressure in the college game to win now as there is in the NFL. Shaw will probably turn the job down unless he feels he is ready for the NFL. He is also making $6 million a year which could be more then he could make as the Detroit Lions Head Coach.
The Lions will do what is best for their franchise moving forward. The next Head Coach’s goal should be to help the Lions win a playoff game for the 1st time since 1991. After that, the objective should be the Super Bowl. The Lions have never appeared in one.
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