The Lions changed head coaches this offseason when they fired Jim Caldwell and hired Matt Patricia, but they didn’t make a change at offensive coordinator when Patricia brought in new assistant coaches.
Jim Bob Cooter’s return and Patricia’s background as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator suggests that the Lions might have a setup that sees the head coach give Cooter a lot of responsibility to run the offense. That may be the case, but Patricia thinks that he can give quarterback Matthew Stafford a boost along the way.
“I would hope that maybe I could come in and give him a little bit different perspective,” Patricia said this week, via the Detroit News. “Maybe something from my point of view from playing against him a couple times, and just certain things that I look at when we’re going against other quarterbacks that might help him out. Maybe some different ways to look at defense, from that standpoint. Try to look at some different alignments or different coverages or different fronts, and then help him from that standpoint.”
Stafford has thrived since Cooter’s promotion in 2015 and his presence should benefit the first-year head coach at least as much as Patricia’s insight might benefit the offense.