Matt Patricia is making a positive impact on the Detroit Lions

Throughout the offseason, there was rampant speculation about what changes the Detroit Lions new head coach would make. As we get nearer to the first preseason game we are getting a few answers about what kind of coach Matt Patricia is.

Several differences between the old regime and the new have become apparent over the course of Detroit Lions training camp. Matt Patricia is clearly cut from a different cloth than former Lions head coach Jim Caldwell. Some have been critical of the changes. Oddly, they tend to be the same people who were also critical of the old staff.

Some might be tempted to ask if those voices were just trolling the organization and taking negative stances to hunt for clicks.

The intensity of a Patricia practice outweighs that of a Caldwell Practice. From the moment OTAs opened we have been hearing from the beat writers that they were seeing something different. One beat reporter even went so far as to speculate that all this running was going to lose the team.

On the first day of padded practices at training camp, Patricia lined the team up for an Oklahoma drill. The Oklahoma drill, for those who are not aware, is designed to simulate a running situation. It involves a head to head matchup between an offensive and defensive lineman. Another head-to-head collision between a linebacker and running back follows the blocking aspect. It is more violent than an actual game situation in many cases.

Patricia had to explain the modifications he made to the drill in order to justify it. The old drill is a relic of the days when coaches saw head to head contact as a good thing and referred to a concussion as “getting your bell rung.” Patricia took the forward momentum out of the blocking aspect and made the battle between the running back and linebacker stopped just short of contact.

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The team is tackling in practice at times. That is something Jim Caldwell never allowed. Over the last four seasons, the Caldwell Lions and the New England Patriots have had the same number of players go on IR. The Patriots have appeared in multiple Superbowls, while the Lions have lost multiple games in the wildcard round of the playoffs.

You can tell a lot about the old coach based on the things that surprise people about the new coach. Words like “fired up,” or”high energy”, and “detail oriented” are being thrown around regarding the new coach. Those seem like positive traits in a leader of men.

From the players perspective, there appears to be a high level of respect for Patricia, and significant buy-in for his program. Nevin Lawson missed a few days of practice as his second child was born. When he returned, he spoke on the coach. “It really feels like he cares a lot about us,” Lawson said to the gathered throng of reporters.

Patricia’s practices have also been described as moving much more quickly, and with greater precision than Caldwell’s. The new regime is really trying to get the most out of its time with the players in any given day.

The coaches are spending time not only on a player’s core competencies for their role but secondary skill sets that are likely to come up. Christian Jones and Jarrad Davis for example, have been staying after practices to work on their pass rush skills. It is unlikely that either of those men has a future as an edge rusher, but it is helpful for a blitzing linebacker to have some idea of what to do when they get blocked.

A new age has dawned in Detroit. The changes are vast in both their nature and scope. This year there has been more than a personnel overhaul, there has been an identity overhaul. The Lions definitely needed that. Matt Patricia is making a positive impact on the Detroit Lions.