The vibes are higher than they’ve ever been for the Detroit Lions entering the 2025 season. As Super Bowl contenders for the third straight year, Dan Campbell has successfully built a winning culture for a team that was perennially the doormat for the NFC North for decades, and it has everyone optimistic about what they can accomplish.
But before Campbell’s arrival, there was a much different tone. The Lions were losing games in bunches and were trying to make the most out of Matthew Stafford’s final years in Detroit. One of the biggest villains at the time was former head coach Matt Patricia, and the disdain for the Bill Belichick disciple still lingers among the fan base.
Former Lions Player Details Conflict Between Matt Patricia and Darius Slay
While it hurts to look back, former Lions fullback Jason Cabinda did so while appearing on the State Media podcast. Cabinda told a story from Patricia’s first season back in 2018 when the Lions hosted a joint practice with the New York Giants, and Patricia targeted All-Pro cornerback Darius Slay for chatting and taking photos with Odell Beckham Jr. after the session.
"Odell was getting the better of Slay during practices…and after the practice, you know, Slay is chopping up with Odell, they taking pictures and all that type of stuff. Matty P didn’t like that. You know that they were shaking hands, taking pictures after himself. So Matty P comes in and makes up a little compilation of the routes that Odell beat Slay on, and was showing it in the team meeting room with the pointer. So Slay was getting cooked by Odell and after he finishes showing the plays with his f—--g laser pointer, he’s like ‘Is this your best friend? Is this your guy?’ Like, basically challenging him like ‘Why are you shaking hands with this guy after? Like, ‘That’s the enemy’ type of vibe."Jason Cabinda
Slay was a Pro Bowl cornerback at the time with the Lions and one of Detroit’s best players overall. He spent seven years with the Lions after he was taken in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft and had two of his best seasons in Patricia’s first two years, grabbing five interceptions and defending 30 passes. Still, the two didn’t have the best relationship, and moments like the Beckham film session made things worse.
“It was very much an embarrassing tactic type of deal,” Cabinda said. “And Slay was not having that s— at all. Like, that was, like, for sure, the worst way Matty P could have handled that.”
Slay wound up getting traded in 2020 and spent the next five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. When Patricia was fired after the 2020 season, he spent two years with the New England Patriots as a senior defensive advisor before joining Nick Sirianni’s staff as a senior defensive assistant in 2023.
While the two have reconciled since their days in Detroit, Lions fans won’t forget. Patricia went 13-29-1 in his three seasons as head coach and posted the fourth-lowest winning percentage (.314) in franchise history among coaches with at least 30 games.
All is well that ends well, as Patricia’s ineptitude helped the Lions hire Campbell in 2021. But it doesn’t heal the old wounds that their old coach left behind.