Reader Email: Why The Eagles Should Hire Matt Patricia
Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s name has not been linked with the Eagles head coaching job in any significant way – the Browns, however, have requested an interview – and we’re not sure why. Patricia, by all accounts, is highly thought of in New England, progressive, super smart, and has a great beard. So, reader Twigg emailed his dissertation on why the Eagles should hire Patricia, compiled from various media sources (cited at the end). We’ve edited his email, because it looked like this…
… into something a bit more structured, because we agree with almost every point he makes. Patricia may have everything you’re looking for in a coach… and a sweet fucking beard. For real, that’s 90% of the reason I like him. So many t-shirt opportunities.
Reader Twigg:
Like most people reading this, I am a long-time Eagles fan who wants nothing more than to see them make the right coaching decision and ultimately win a Superbowl. Preferably multiple Superbowls. I spend my days thinking about what they should do with their entire organization from the top to the bottom and the recent coaching search has provided a subject matter on which I can spend my limited brain capacity thinking about. After reading about the different candidates and some outside the box thinking (Jaws would be a great leader right?!) I have made up my mind about who I not only want to be the next coach, but who the Eagles NEED as their next coach.
SUPER INTELLIGENT
Patricia is a legit rocket scientist. He has an aeronautical engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “He certainly doesn’t look that part, but it doesn’t take long to figure out this is a smart guy who has a little bit more going on in his head than most. I remember saying to him, ‘That’s going to be your edge, dude'” coach E.J. Mills at Amherst College said.
DRIVE
FOXBOROUGH, MA – CIRCA 2011: In this handout image provided by the NFL, Matt Patricia of the New England Patriots poses for his NFL headshot circa 2011 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by NFL via Getty Images)
Patricia left a well-paying job in his engineering field to gain an education with a series of low-paying, entry-level coaching gigs. At Amherst College, he left behind his engineering salary to make $8,000 as defensive line coach.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
At Syracuse, he learned to be committed for 24 hours a day, and that work ethic helped him in New England. With the Pats, Patricia has been known to march through the stretching line and hug every player, presumably allowing them to rub up on his majestic beard.
STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM NOW HE’S HERE
At his start, Patricia volunteered during spring camps, picked up players at the airport, worked security in the dorms, ran curfew checks, and set up cones for field drills.
With New England, he’s worked as offensive coaching assistant, assistant offensive line coach, linebackers coach, safeties coach, and defensive coordinator. His rise is nothing short of meteoric.
TECH SAVVY
Since joining the Pats’ staff in 2004, Patricia has been “responsible for transitioning coach Bill Belichick’s football operations into the 21st century with his technological prowess by computerizing film documentation.” At ‘Cuse, Patricia logged film and streamlined it for the offensive coaches, tracked formations, personnel packages and blitzes, breaking them down as much as he could to make them more reliable/sort-able/able to analyze.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
After the Pats won their second Super Bowl, Patricia had to earn the respect of the players as the new guy, and did so. He accompanied Belichick on offseason scouting trips. But Patricia never altered his approach with the players, considering them one very big, football-playing family.
HARD WORKER
“He’s relentless in trying to put us in the best possible position. The hours that he puts in — unbelievable, and he’s never satisfied. He’s always trying to push me to be a better football player, and he knows how to push my buttons … We’ve been together a long time now, and he knows how to get me a little bit angry and play to my best. I guess that’s what a coach is supposed to do, is get his players to play to their best, and he does that.”
PLAYER TREATMENT
While one of Chip Kelly’s biggest issues was how he treated his players, Patricia realizes all players are not equal:
“Devin [McCourty] is the star. Devin never gets in trouble for anything.” Hightower looked left, to where Ninkovich was. “Ninko! How many times — Devin. He’s the prize pupil. He’s never gotten in trouble.”
Ninkovich, smiling, agreed.
“I’ve been here three years and I’ve never heard Devin get in trouble for anything,” Hightower said.
“He’s the Golden Child,” Ninkovich chimed in.
McCourty laughed off the assertion that he’s Patricia’s star student. But he added one last adjective when asked about the defensive coordinator: “genius.”
PATIENCE
When linebacker coach Patrick Graham came in, Patricia helped him get adjusted:
“I came in as a [quality control coach] under him and he spent a lot of time helping groom me to be able to understand what Bill’s philosophy was. He was patient with me because I can be a know-it-all sometimes, he had to tell me to shut up sometimes, and he helped me understand the NFL game.”
BALL DON’T LIE
Patricia’s defensive unit is ranked eighth in points (19.7 per game), seventh in yards (332.8 per game) and second in sacks (48) this season. His defense tallied 116 takeaways since he took over as coordinator, which ranks as second most in the league.
Boston Herald
How Matt Patricia engineers Patriots defense By: Jeff Howe
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots/2015/12/how_matt_patricia_engineers_patriots_defense
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Boston Globe
Matt Patricia is brains behind Patriots’ defense By: Shalise Manza Young
January 28, 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Patricia
