Lions' Trey Flowers: Matt Patricia 'obviously' deserves 2nd opportunity to be head coach
No full-time Detroit Lions coach has left Detroit and gone on to hold the same position with another team. If Matt Patricia becomes the first, Lions defensive end Trey Flowers said he is unsure whether Patricia would alter how he handles players or runs a defense.
"His way, he won and was successful with his way," Flowers said. "So if he feels as though his way can work, should work, and he wanted to continue to demonstrate things his way, then he would do that. And he’s been very successful doing things his way, so whether he would change it up or not, I’m not sure. That’s up to him, but he was successful."
REPLACING PATRICIA: 5 candidates for next Detroit Lions coach
Patricia was fired Nov. 28 with a 13-29-1 record in parts of three seasons as coach.
He was a beloved defensive coordinator who was part of three Super Bowl championship teams as an assistant with the New England Patriots, but alienated large portions of the Lions locker room his first two years in Detroit with what some players felt was demeaning treatment and too rigid an approach.
Defensively, the Lions were a middling unit throughout Patricia's tenure, ranking near the bottom of the league in scoring, total and rushing defense.
[ Ex-Lions players react to Patricia's firing: 'Best news I've heard all year' ]
A number of former players celebrated Patricia's firing on social media last month, while several current ones have noted a positive change in mood until interim coach Darrell Bevell.
"I just feel like this," safety Tracy Walker said Friday. "Sometimes change is good and sometimes it has to happen."
Flowers, who played three seasons for Patricia with the Patriots, said "the win factor" was the reason it did not work out for Patricia in Detroit.
"If you don’t win then things are subject to changes, things are subject to happen," Flowers said. "That’s with anybody, with any job. Even as a player, if you’re not producing as a player, then you’re going to get cut. Y’all guys are reporters, if you’re not reporting well, then you probably won’t have a job. So that’s just business. Many people have opinions, many people have different viewpoints, but when it all comes down to it, that’s the business of it."
As for whether Patricia will get another head coaching job, Flowers said he "obviously" deserves one.
"Now, I’m not an owner, GM, so I can’t say that he would get one or not," Flowers said. "But as far as deserving it, yeah, he’s a great coach, great guy. Very successful as far as in his ways, so I guess we’ll have to see just like everybody else."
More Flowers
Flowers still is hoping to return from the "upper-body injury" he suffered in a Nov. 1 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The injury did not require surgery, and Flowers said the Lions' record will not be a determining factor in whether he plays again this season.
The Lions (5-7) enter Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers (9-3) one game behind the Minnesota Vikings for the final wild card spot in the NFC. They likely need to win at least three of their final four games - and maybe all four - to make the playoffs.
"I’m a football player, so if I can physically play football, I’m going to play football, regardless of the circumstances," Flowers said.
The Lions' Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee, Flowers said winning the award would be "like the Nobel Peace Prize of the football world."
"You just think about all the many inspirational people throughout this league, to just be nominated is obviously a blessing, obviously a win in my eyes when it comes to it," Flowers said. "As far as me personally, I think our true purpose here on Earth is to give a purpose to one another. A lot of people equate purpose with their career or their job or things like that. That’s an earthly purpose, and it kind of does correlate a little bit, but your true purpose is to give, your true purpose is to inspire and help one another while you have this time here on Earth. In the eyes of god, I already won just being nominated. Just being able to exemplify God through me is a win in my book."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Trey Flowers: Matt Patricia merits 2nd head coach chance
