Matt Patricia

Matthew Edward Patricia (born September 13, 1974) is an American football coach. He served 14 seasons as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL), including six seasons as the team's defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017. During his tenure with the Patriots, Patricia won three Super Bowls, two as defensive coordinator, and presided over a defense in 2016 that led the league in fewest points allowed. Patricia also served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2018 to 2020. He played college football at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he was a four-year letterman as an offensive lineman.

Patricia played at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) where he was a four-year letterman as a center and guard with the Engineers football team from 1992 to 1995. While in college, Patricia was indicted for sexual assault stemming from an incident during a visit to South Padre Island. The charges were later dismissed.

Early coaching career

Patricia remained at RPI to begin his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1996. He spent the next two years as an application engineer with Hoffman Air & Filtration Systems in East Syracuse, New York. After graduating, Patricia received an offer to maintain nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers with the Westinghouse Electric Company, but decided to return to football as the defensive line coach for Amherst College from 1999 to 2000. In 2001, he moved to Syracuse University as an offensive graduate assistant for the team, a position he held for three seasons.

New England Patriots

Patricia joined the Patriots under head coach Bill Belichick as an offensive coaching assistant in 2004. In 2005, upon the departure of assistant offensive line/tight ends coach Jeff Davidson, Patricia was reassigned as the Patriots' assistant offensive line coach. Then-linebackers coach Dean Pees was promoted to defensive coordinator after the season, prompting another reassignment for Patricia, this time to linebackers coach for the 2006 season. Patricia was named the team's safeties coach in 2011. In 2012, he was promoted to the title of defensive coordinator, though he had been calling the plays on defense since the departure of Pees following the 2009 season. In January 2016, the Patriots gave permission for Patricia to interview for the head-coaching position of the Cleveland Browns, but Patricia would remain with the Patriots as defensive coordinator going into the 2016 season. The Patriots won three Super Bowls with Patricia: Super Bowl XXXIX at the end of the 2004 season, Super Bowl XLIX at the end of the 2014 season, and Super Bowl LI at the end of the 2016 season. On January 1, 2018 (NFL Black Monday), it was revealed that Patricia was the subject of the Detroit Lions' and New York Giants' head coaching searches. To date, he is the Patriots' most recent defensive playcaller to receive the title of defensive coordinator.

Detroit Lions

On February 5, 2018, Patricia was named the head coach of the Detroit Lions. Patricia lost his first two games of the season, the first against the New York Jets, 17–48, on Monday Night Football on September 10, 2018, and the following week against the San Francisco 49ers, 27–30, on September 16, 2018.

His first win as a head coach came on September 23, 2018, against his previous team, the New England Patriots, with Patricia beating his old mentor, Bill Belichick, in the process. It was also the Lions' first win over the Patriots since 2000, which was Belichick's first year coaching the Patriots.

On November 28, 2020, Patricia, along with general manager Bob Quinn were both fired by the Lions. This after the Lions suffered back-to-back lopsided losses: A 20-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers on November 22; and a41-25 loss to the Houston Texans during the Lions annual Thanksgiving Day game on November 26. Patricia finished his tenure in Detroit with a 13–29–1 (.314) record in three and a half seasons.

Patricia married his wife, Raina, in 2009. They have three children together, named Dominic, Dante, and Giamina. The family resides in Royal Oak, Michigan.