Detroit Lions: Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia will sink or swim together

By Zac Snyder | Feb 10, 2018

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Bob Quinn not only got his guy to be head coach of the Detroit Lions, he also got a contract extension to match the duration of Matt Patricia’s deal.

Just days after introducing Matt Patricia as the team’s next head coach the Detroit Lions announced a contract extension for general manager Bob Quinn. The exact details were not disclosed by the Lions did state in the announcement that the extensions brings length of Quinn’s deal in line with contract just signed by Patricia.

As two former members of the New England Patriots organization, it’s obvious Quinn is bringing on “his guy” as his new head coach. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that – Patricia has been a hot head coaching name for a couple years now as he’s built a reputation as a bright football mind and has achieved great success as part of the Patriots staff. Had it not been for the pre-existing relationship between Quinn and Patricia, the Lions may never have had a shot at signing him as head coach.

Now the Lions have Quinn and Patricia and it all looks like a good thing. Both were well regarding on their way into the organization and the common background means they should be able to quickly and effectively rekindle their working relationship for the good of the Lions. Quinn always regarded his working relationship with Jim Caldwell as good but he acknowledged this week that the carpet between his office and the head coach’s is likely to see even more wear.

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Best case, all goes according to plan and the Lions surge into contender status not only in the NFC North but for Super Bowl titles.

When hires don’t work we often see a power struggle between front office and the coach that can lead to one or the other serving as the fall guy. This was the case in Detroit when the front office was broomed out during the 2015 season but Jim Caldwell and the coaching staff remained in place, even through the hiring of Bob Quinn. With Quinn new-ish on the job, Caldwell was fired two years later with no change in the front office.

It will be harder, perhaps impossible, to make distinctions between front office and coaching in this new era for the Lions. This was not a coaching hire based on scheme or simply being blown away by a candidate from the outside. This was about linking two former colleagues who have individually earned the right to move into their current positions and are banking on their synergy to fuel the team to success.

If that doesn’t come to fruition, the entire experiment will be a failure and it should cost everyone their job. It feels like the Lions organization is saying as much. It is believed these new contracts will run through 2022. Decision time generally comes with at least one year left on a coach’s contract to avoid a lame-duck season. That means when the time comes to make a decision on Patricia’s future with the team, the same will be true for Quinn.

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Is there a scenario that would see one but not the other worthy of sticking with the team beyond 2021 or 2022? Probably, but that seems unlikely given the way the relationship and the positives surrounding Patricia’s hire have been billed. These two will share in success or share in failure.

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