During OTAs last week, Lions head coach Dan Campbell put off any final decision on who will call Detroit’s offensive plays until closer to the season. The New England Patriots are facing a similar decision under Bill Belichick, and Campbell’s predecessor in Detroit could very well land the playcalling responsibility for the Patriots offense.
That’s right. Matt Patricia could be running the Patriots’ offense.
Patriots insider Jeff Howe noted that Patricia, who earned his NFL acclaim as a defensive coach in New England, is “trending” to earning the role. It’s either Patricia or Joe Judge, who was fired as head coach by the New York Giants after two eerily similar disastrous seasons to the three Patricia authored in Detroit from 2018-2020.
Here’s what Howe noted in his recent article at The Athletic,
Belichick has not yet decided who will call the plays during the season, but it’s trending in Patricia’s direction, according to a source. Patricia and Judge are each preparing for the possibility of calling plays, but Patricia’s workload this spring has suggested he’s the early favorite to handle that responsibility.
Patricia did begin his Patriots coaching career nearly 20 years ago as an offensive assistant but quickly moved to the defensive side of the ball. He spent 2021 as a special assistant with unusually ambiguous duties in New England, the only place he’s coached at the NFL level outside of Detroit.
