Sources: Patricia to Eagles, back to coaching D

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles have hired former Detroit Lions head coach and New England Patriots assistant Matt Patricia as a senior defensive assistant, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Coach Nick Sirianni said during a news conference Thursday that it was “trending” in the direction of Patricia being hired.

“Obviously his résumé speaks for itself. It gives you a great mind in there that’s done it at the highest level,” Sirianni said. “It gives you great ability to bounce ideas off of with the defensive staff, and also gives me another former head coach that I can bounce ideas off of as well with things which I think would be very helpful.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick turned to Patricia, the team’s defensive coordinator from 2012 to ’17, as the offensive playcaller in 2022 following the departure of longtime coordinator Josh McDaniels to become Las Vegas Raiders head coach. It was an unconventional choice considering Patricia’s primary background in the NFL had come on defense. Patricia, 48, was also entrusted with implementing a new offensive scheme, with which Belichick naturally had significant influence.

The desired results never came to fruition, however, with Belichick saying at the end of the Patriots’ 8-9 season: “It wasn’t what we want it to be or need it to be.”

That led to the Patriots hiring Bill O’Brien to return as offensive coordinator on Jan. 26.

Between stints with the Patriots, Patricia served as the Lions’ head coach from 2018 to ’20, compiling a 13-29-1 record. He butted heads with former Lions and current Eagles cornerback Darius Slay during his time in Detroit.

Slay told ESPN’s Michael Rothstein in 2020 that there were multiple incidents that led to the fraying of the relationship between he and Patricia. The one that bothered him the most happened after a training camp practice. Slay posted a picture on social media about him and a receiver who had caught a couple of passes on him that day. At the start of the meeting later that night, Patricia used the social media photo along with a small highlight tape of said player on the board before addressing Slay. Slay, then 29, said Patricia put the picture on the team board, with Patricia essentially telling him to stop kissing up to another player, although the coach used a more profane analogy.

“Yeah. Right there, after that, that’s when all my respect went out the door for him. As a man,” Slay said.

Sirianni said he talked with Slay about the addition of Patricia, which was initially announced on the team’s website Thursday before being abruptly deleted.

“Of course. Like you do with anything, you go through and talk to guys and make sure everyone is comfortable with it,” Sirianni said. “I had conversations with Slay, I obviously had conversations with Coach Patricia, and I know it will be a good working relationship for us when that happens.”

ESPN’s Mike Reiss contributed to this report.