Bill Belichick Praises Matt Patricia As 'Very Valuable Resource' With Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) -- Matt Patricia spent 14 seasons working for Bill Belichick. Now that he's back in Foxboro, it seems like his old boss is much more impacted by those 14 seasons than he is by the three years Patricia spent in Detroit.
Belichick spoke with Scott Zolak this week ahead of the draft, and the head coach was asked about how the front office operation has been running in the first year without Nick Caserio. Specifically, Belichick was asked about the front office transition from Caserio to Dave Ziegler. Belichick brought up a few more names in addition to Ziegler's.
"Fantastic. Dave and Eliot Wolfe and Matt Groh have done a fantastic job of putting things together this spring. It's good to have Matt Patricia back, and he's been involved as well," Belichick said. "I think that we've gotten a lot done. I think we're well-prepared, we've got a lot of good information. Hopefully we can, like I said, make some good decisions here."
In a follow-up question, Belichick spoke at length about Patricia's value to the Patriots.
"Yeah well of course Matt's done this for the last three years in a different organization, so he's familiar with our process, his process, and all the things that go around that. So he's been really a very valuable resource and confidant and somebody to talk to who's been through the same things that we've been through," Belichick said. "And his experience and perspective has been extremely valuable."
Patricia's three years with the Lions obviously did not go well. After inheriting a team coming off a 9-7 season, Patricia led the Lions to a 6-10 record in his first season in 2018. It got worse in 2019, with the Lions finishing 3-12-1, and Patricia was finally fired in 2020, when the Lions sat at 4-7 late in the year.
The Lions' drafts during Patricia's tenure working with Bob Quinn in Detroit also weren't particularly fruitful,though Detroit did draft center Frank Ragnow at No. 20 overall in 2018 and tight end T.J. Hockenson at No. 8 overall in 2019, and both have since become Pro Bowlers.
Patricia's current role with the Patriots is more of a front-office job than a coaching one. And while the outside world may never get the full scope of what goes on behind the scenes, Belichick has made it clear that he very much approves of the work being done by Patricia thus far.
