Darrell Bevell Defends Matt Patricia's Inconsideration

Read more on Detroit Lions interim head coach Darrell Bevell defending former coach Matt Patricia for not messaging him following his first career victory

Imagine an NFL assistant coach spending 16-18 hours or more on a daily basis working to aid a head coach to win football games. 

The daily grind, the time away from family, working extremely hard in a team environment to reach common goals. 

It is talked about all the time. The coaching circle is small, but yet very close. 

Prior to his final game, Matt Patricia expressed how he looked up to Texans head coach Romeo Crennel and regularly sought his counsel. 

For many coaches, the goal is to lead their own team. For Darrell Bevell, the opportunity presented itself when Patricia was fired following Detroit's loss to the Texans on Thanksgiving. 

During his media session on Monday, Bevell responded to a question regarding if his former colleague had reached out to him to congratulate him on the victory. 

All it would have taken was one moment, one second to shoot someone he worked with a congratulatory note. 

But, Patricia did not reach out.

On Wednesday, in a show of class, Bevell explained that he still has a positive relationship with Patricia and is looking forward to catching up in the offseason. 

"I know that this coaching circle is really small, and it’s a really interesting profession," he said. "I know you guys asked me the other day if I had heard from (Patricia) and if he texted me or called me, and it’s something I really didn’t expect from him. It’s just such a hard time when you go through that transition, and you’re out of the game, the first thing you want to do is you want to get away from everything, you want to spend as much time with your family as you can. I know that from experience because I was in that exact same situation. I just do want you to know that I have a great relationship with him." 

Despite the lack of consideration, Detroit's interim head coach continues to express gratitude for the opportunity given to him again after some time away from the game.

"When all this is said and done, I have no doubts that we’ll great conversations, and we’ll talk a lot about all this time while we were here," Bevell said. "Again, I just can’t be more appreciative and grateful to him for the opportunity that he gave me.”

Regardless of the reasons why a simple note of encouragement would not have been too much to ask to repay someone for their sacrifice. 

If it were myself, 15 messages would have been sent immediately and maybe even a wisecrack or two would have been exchanged. 

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