Detroit Lions officially announce Matt Patricia as their head coach

Now that the dust has settled on the 2017 NFL season, the Detroit Lions made official what we’ve known for nearly a full month now. Former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is the new Detroit Lions head coach.

Patricia becomes the 27th coach in Detroit Lions history and first from the Belichick tree. He, of course, joins general manager Bob Quinn in that regard, as the former Patriots personnel director attempts to recreate some of the success New England has built over the past two decades.

Quinn offered this formal statement through the Lions official website:

“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 is coming off of a not-so-hot performance in Super Bowl LII, but his resume speaks for itself: six straight seasons with a top 10 scoring defense, two Super Bowl wins and DVOA rankings in the top half of the league in all but two seasons.

The Detroit Lions haven’t announced yet when Patricia will have his official introductory interview, but considering how long he has been with New England, he’ll probably need some time to formally say goodbye to the franchise that gave him a shot at the big leagues.

We won’t know what the Matt Patricia era will bring in Detroit, but the fact that the Lions hired him on this exact day has to be a good sign:

The Matt Patricia era has officially begun! Long live, Patricia!