Matt Patricia departs the Patriots and will join the Eagles coaching staff

Patricia departs the Patriots once again

Image courtesy of Boston.com

Matt Patricia has joined the Philadelphia Eagles as their new senior defensive assistant per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The last time Patricia coached on the defensive side the New England Patriots we’re defeated in Super Bowl 52 by Nick Foles and the Eagles 41-33.

Patricia was on the Patriots staff as the offensive player caller this season. The Patriots went 8-9, Mac Jones digressed, and the Bill Belichick experiment combusted.

Belichick is to blame for putting Patricia in a spot where he was bound to fail. His specialty is defense and even that was a question mark after the loss to Eagles

Fans and media should not get it twisted though, all the blame goes back on to Patricia himself. The only reason he had to come back to New England in any role they had was because he absolutely bombed as a leader and head coach with the Detroit Lions.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Patricia going to the Eagles is now belonging in a locker room with all-pro cornerback Darius Slay. Slay back in 2020 detailed two incidents to ESPN that made Slay “all my respect went out the door for him. As a man.” That was back 3 years ago, but Slay has not forgotten about Patricia at all.

At Super Bowl media day this year, he spoke about how Patricia acted extremely arrogant. "I mean, it was weird how he came in like he was just bigger and better than all of us," Slay said. "He acted like we asked to be here. You know, we do get selected. That was crazy. That was a first."

This type of arrogance is not difficult to imagine as it was on display here even in the media. In September of 2020, after the Lions blew a 23-6 fourth quarter league, he referenced and took credit for the Malcolm Butler goal line interception in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks.

Brad Galli @BradGalli

Lions head coach Matt Patricia was asked if there's something in his coaching "that isn't happening enough in the fourth quarter." "Yeah, I don't think so," Patricia said. "I think I got probably one of the biggest plays in the fourth quarter in the history of the NFL."

For the Patriots they have already turned the page on Patricia. To go from the top as an NFL head coach down to an assistant/specialist, maybe this last year has humbled Patricia.

He needs to worry less about sharpening his pencil and carrying himself as the smartest man in the room and instead work on sharpening his people skills if he wants to remain in the NFL.

Follow Matt on Twitter @BSTRONG415

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Second image courtesy of WDEL