Detroit Lions: Matt Patricia finally officially announced as new head coach

It’s been the worst-kept secret in the NFL for weeks but the Detroit Lions have finally officially announced Matt Patricia as their new head coach.

With the end of Super Bowl LII came the close of the 2017 NFL season. All 32 teams are now in offseason mode and head coaching candidates from Super Bowl teams are free to officially sign on to take over their new teams.

Only the Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts remained with head coaching vacancies on Super Sunday, though the expectation had long been that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would take over in Indy while Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia would be the guy in Detroit.

While there were reports of some 11th hour uncertainty regarding McDaniels, there was nothing of the sort surrounding Patricia and the Lions. Now, Patricia has been officially announced as the next head coach of the Detroit Lions.

The announcement was made with a statement from executive vice president and general manager Bob Quinn:

"“When we launched the search for our next head coach, I wanted to find a leader that could take us to the next level and I am confident we have found that in Matt Patricia. He has been preparing for this opportunity his entire career, and he’s ready for the responsibility and its challenges.“Matt is driven to succeed, has extreme passion for the game and excels in preparation. He embodies the same hard-working, blue-collar attributes that represent our organization and the great City of Detroit.”"

Patricia was viewed as one of the leading candidates from the beginning and the process has been unofficially over for three weeks. All that was left was for the Patriots season to end.

It makes for a whirlwind couple of days for Patricia. His Patriots defense was shredded in last night’s Super Bowl loss to the Eagles. Surely not the way he wanted to end his run as a Patriots assistant but he will have to put it behind him quickly as he settles into a new role with a new team.

There will be plenty for Patricia to adjust to in moving to a new organization but having familiar faces already in place should ease the transition. The familiarity between Patricia and Bob Quinn and Kyle O’Brien in the front office should mean the team can hit the ground running in the offseason.

Next: Lions free agency predictions

Patricia’s first Lions staff is also expected to be heavy on people he’s worked with before, although Jim Bob Cooter is a notable exception to that despite being expected to stay. The biggest transition will be for the players, particularly on defense, as new systems and coaching philosophies are installed by the new head coach.