A press conference to announce Matt Patricia as the new head coach of the Detroit Lions is set for 3 pm today. However, detroitlions.com has already announced the new coaching staff. We already know that Jim Bob Cooter will be retained as the offensive coordinator as reported by Adam Schefter on Super Bowl Sunday.
There are other coaches that were retained by Patricia, Al Golden being one of them. Golden coached the tight ends the last two seasons under former coach Jim Caldwell. He will serve as the linebackers coach under Patricia. Before his coaching gig with the Lions that started before the 2016 season, Golden coached the Miami Hurricanes. The other coach is George Godsey. Godsey was a defensive assistant under Caldwell last year and will serve as the quarterbacks coach under Patricia.
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The most notable coach that is going to be apart of the staff is the new defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni. Pasqualoni was the head coach at Syracuse from 1992-2004. He recruited players such as Donovan McNabb, Marvin Harrison, and former Lion Dwight Freeney to name a few. His previous stints as a defensive coordinator include the Miami Dolphins from 2008 – 2009, and the Dallas Cowboys in 2010. He served as the defensive line coach for Boston College last season.
The other new hires go as follows:
David Corrao – Director of Football Research: Was an assistant coach under Pasqualoni at Syracuse from 2000 – 2003.
Jeff Davidson – Offensive line coach: 24 years of coaching experience with 15 of those years coaching offensive lineman.
Brian Stewart– Defensive backs coach: Was the Defensive Coordinator and interim head coach at Rice last season. Has not coached in NFL since 2009 (Eagles).
Chris White – Tight Ends Coach: another former assistant at Syracuse from 2000 – 2008. Was at Connecticut last season as senior quality control of football research.
The biggest takeaway from the hires is the strong connection with Syracuse. That is where Matt Patrica got his big break into coaching under Paul Pasqualino. It was arguably the most successful era in Syracuse football history. Now we just have to hope they can bring similar success or even more to a Detroit Lions organization that hasn’t had much.
