Patricia to be involved in all aspects of the team

Matt Patricia arrived in Detroit to be the Lions’ new head coach with a long history of success as an assistant coach, mostly on the defensive side of the football. But don’t be mistaken, Patricia’s fingerprints will be all over all three aspects of this team – offense, defense and special teams. “I mean, I think as a head coach you need to be involved in all aspects of the team,” he said. “I think it’s critically important for me as a head coach to be able to stand up in front of the team and explain to them, ‘Hey, look, this is how we’re going to win the game. This is what we need to do on offense. This is what we need to do on defense. This is what we need to do on special teams. And if we can do these four, five things, we’ll put ourselves in a situation where we can win.’“So, I plan to be involved in kind of all aspects of the team as the head coach and to make sure that I understand everything that we’re doing on all three sides of the ball.” Patricia has a great deal of respect for Jim Bob Cooter, and retained him as his offensive coordinator. But Patricia also told detroitlions.com he’ll sit down with Cooter in the coming weeks to talk about his coaching philosophy and what he wants to see from his team on offense. “Certainly, we’re going to sit down and say, “OK, here, this is what I see, and this is what I want. This is what the team needs to look like in the end.’” Patricia said. “But I know he’s smart enough to figure all that out.” Patricia is also excited to sit down with quarterback Matthew Stafford and put on game tape to maybe show the veteran quarterback some things from a defensive perspective that gives him a bit of a different look. Patricia is coming from a team in New England that puts a premium value on special teams. One of Patricia’s three keys to having a competitive and successful football team is being able to cover kicks. That aspect of special teams will certainly get a good look moving forward. “I would say in general all aspects of the team need to operate at a high level and we’re going to invest a lot in all aspects of the team,” Patricia said. “I don’t really single out any side of it. “I know there’s some, whatever the situation was previously before I got here, but for me it’s all about moving forward. You know, where are we now?”