PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles are expected to hire former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia to be a senior defensive assistant.
“We’re trending in that direction,” coach Nick Sirianni said Thursday. “Nothing is final yet.”
ESPN later reported that a contract had been finalized, but the Eagles declined to confirm.
Patricia, 48, has had an eventful last several years in the NFL. He was hired as head coach by Detroit in 2018 after 14 years with the New England Patriots, the last six as their defensive coordinator, but he was fired by the Lions after three losing seasons (13-29 overall). Bill Belichick brought him back to New England in 2021 as a senior adviser before essentially making him a co-offensive coordinator in 2022.
The results were dismal and Patricia was relieved of his duties.
It’s unclear what role he’ll have in Philadelphia, but it will be back on defense. He helmed strong units for most of his tenure in New England, but the Eagles torched the Patriots in Super Bowl LII, scoring 41 points and fooling them with the trick play, “Philly Special.”
Patricia, who tried to adopt some of Belichick’s old-school methods, wasn’t beloved by his players in Detroit. Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, who played under him with the Lions for two seasons, has been vocal about his distaste for him. Sirianni was asked if he needed to talk to Slay before bringing Patricia aboard.
“Of course, you go through like you do with anything,” Sirianni said. “You go through and you talk to guys and make sure everybody’s comfortable with it. I had conversations with Slay. Obviously, I had conversations with Coach Patricia. I know it’ll be a good working relationship.”
The Eagles made several other coaching moves official Thursday. They announced the following hires: Taver Johnson as assistant defensive backs coach, Ronell Williams as nickels coach, Mike DiAngelo as defensive quality control, and Tyler Yelk as assistant to the head coach.
They also announced the following promotions: pass game coordinator Kevin Patullo had associate head coach added to his title. D.K. McDonald is now defensive backs coach. And Tyler Scudder was named assistant linebackers coach.
