Why Matt Patricia is Better Equipped to Handle Philadelphia Eagles' Expectations
PHILADELPHIA - Just short of eight months after being hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as a senior defensive assistant, area reporters finally got to meet Matt Patricia on Thursday.
The veteran coach stepped from behind the curtain to center stage after the organization's "Freaky Friday-like" decision to switch the duties of defensive coordinator Sean Desai and Patricia.
When the dust settled Patricia emerged with all the power as the team's play-caller and final word on that side of the football, answering only to offensive-minded head coach Nick Sirianni.
Patricia arrived with the famous pencil behind his ear and some baggage like his failed stint as a head coach in Detroit and his since quashed feud with five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay while both were with the Lions.
The guy who showed up at the NovaCare Complex's Auditorium on Thursday was nothing like the reputation, though.
Patricia came off as almost professorial with the pencil and an Eagles' pullover replacing the tweed jacket and pipe. Before he arrived, Patricia said he hugged Slay. After he shook the hand of every reporter and introduced himself personally quickly stymieing any Bill Belichick-ian expectations.
Matt Patricia gets ready to hit the podium in Philadelphia.
John McMullen/Eagles Today
The path to Patricia's current role in the organization sent shockwaves throughout the league. Despite the high-profile struggles of Desai's defense, the fact that he wasn't allowed to fight his way out of it at 10-3 and better days baked in by an easing schedule is unprecedented and almost confirms Patricia's original hiring as a sounding board but more importantly a safety net.
The Eagles' run to Super Bowl LVII and Arizona's late decision to turn toward former Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon as its new head coach left the organization scrambling.
Had Gannon gotten the Houston job or the Cardinals focused on him earlier, Vic Fangio would likely be leading the defense in Philadelphia. Instead, Fangio accepted the same job in Miami on the same day the Eagles won the NFC championship.
Ultimately, Desai was chosen over in-house candidate Dennard Wilson, mainly because he was a direct disciple of Fangio, whose famed and oft-copied scheme is the preference of Sirianni and several offensive head coaches around the league because they feel it's the toughest to deal with from an offensive perspective.
It was GM Howie Roseman who sold Sirianni on bringing Patricia in as an insurance policy for Desai, who had just one year of experience as a coordinator in Chicago. The former has never run this system but has three Super Bowl rings and boatloads of experience in every aspect of coaching.
In 2022 he called offensive plays for the Patriots and has long had an interest in special teams. While acting as the senior defensive assistant he also served as a sounding board for both Sirianni on offense and special teams coordinator Michael Clay as well as Desai.
Now Patricia is tasked with turning around the NFL's worst third-down defense which began with mixed reviews in Seattle. The overall numbers were better (6 of 14 Seahawks conversions on third down) but the defense allowed Seattle to convert two 3rd-and-10s on the game-winning drive.
“It’s really our imprint,” Patricia said of the defense. “I don’t think through the course of my years in defense, offense, whatever it is, that I’ve ever really felt like it’s mine. I think it’s the players. I think the beauty of it and the way the NFL works through the years that I’ve been in it, is it changes every year."
Belichick, perhaps the best coach in NFL history and the only one Patricia has assisted before arriving in Philadelphia, has always been known for trying to make teams left-handed by taking away the top playmaker at all costs.
Patricia boiled it down a bit differently.
“I think you have to be able to identify what you do well and then try to emphasize that," he said. "[From there] what are areas that I think we can get better at and then try to emphasize those. Sometimes it takes a little while; sometimes you build on it. But I don’t think there is any one great playbook that just comes in and is like, ‘here you go. This is the one that’s going to do it all, all the time,’ because I think everyone would do that.
"The art of it is trying to adapt what you think helps your players the best to give them a chance to go play fast and aggressive and give them a chance to win. I think that’s just what we’re trying to do as a collective group is decide, ‘Hey, where are we really good or what do we need to add or what are we missing and grow that through the weeks as we go?’”
Patricia went to the NBA when looking for a comp for modern NFL defenses.
“I think you do have to evolve and do things that fit the players that you have that particular week, but certainly you want to keep the foundation of what you spend a lot of time on,” Patricia said. “A lot of times, try to just let the talent shine that we have on the field, which is great. We have great players; we have great coaches.”
Patricia's first try at running the defense was going well in Seattle, perhaps somewhat expected against a backup quarterback and when measured against the better recent competition Desai had been trying to deal with.
Right up until the 92-yard, game-winning drive when the Eagles allowed Drew Lock to beat them.
“Wish I had another call in that situation to be able to help in those areas and really in the situation on the field where we were," Patricia admitted. "A lot of it too, trying to gauge the clock and see where were at from the time and how much time was going by. That changes some things as you go and what they can do. It limits as the time goes down and have to start elongating. They still had some time. They had the right play on for that situation.”
Up next is the New York Giants on Christmas Day, an offense that is as close to a gift as any defensive play-caller is going to get in the NFL.
With that comes some of the same expectations that doomed Desai. No matter the dysfunction that put Patricia in his current seat, however, the veteran coach does seem better equipped to handle that.
“The NFL is about production, and we have to produce," said Patricia. "We understand that. When you’re in it for a long time, which somehow, I’m now the old guy. I don’t know how that happened, but it happened quick. You get caught up in the rest of it. You’re trying to produce and win. We’re all trying to do that."
