Quick offseason turnaround no problem for Patricia

The first season Matt Patricia joined the New England Patriots staff in 2004, they won the Super Bowl. In the 13 years that followed with Patricia in the organization, the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl five more times, they lost in the AFC Championship Game four times, and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs twice. What’s the point? Patricia is pretty used to getting a late start on the offseason due to the long playoff runs he’s been a part of in his 14 years in New England. Patricia was named the new coach of the Detroit Lions on Wednesday, more than a month after Detroit’s season officially ended Dec. 31. It’s a late start to his offseason in Detroit, but Patricia’s gotten used to that.“Yeah, even in my previous experience, whenever the season ends I feel like we’re behind,” Patricia said Wednesday at his introductory press conference. “So, as soon as everything is done, whenever that last game is, you’re in a catchup mode and you’re trying to get going. “So, it’s the same situation that I would’ve been in no matter what. I’m in that mode where there’s a lot of work to be done and not a lot of time to get it done.” Obviously, this is a little bit different situation for Patricia as a brand-new head coach. There is definitely more on his plate now, especially since Patricia plans to be very involved in every facet of his football team. He plans to dive right into the game film and try to get a handle on what kind of team he has in Detroit. His close working relationship with Lions general manager Bob Quinn will accelerate his learning curve, but it’s important for Patricia to form his own opinions based on the game tape. It’s pretty well known among people who work in and around the NFL that there really isn’t such a thing as an offseason. Patricia, Quinn and Co. will be in Indianapolis in three weeks for the NFL Scouting Combine. College pro days across the country begin right after that. The new league year and free agency kick off in mid-March. The offseason training program begins April 2 for the Lions. The NFL Draft kicks off the last weekend in April. Then it’s right into rookie minicamp, OTAs and minicamp. Patricia and Co. will stop and take a breath sometime in July, and even that won’t last long as they begin to get ready for the start of training camp at the end of that month. In other words, it’s a very quick turnaround for Patricia. “The good thing is that there is a process to take us through the spring, into OTAs by the time we get to training camp and all that,” he said. “There’s a calendar that we’ll put together and kind of put some target points in there. Certainly, at this point we’ve got a lot of work to do. You know, just walked in the building, so I’ve got my work cut out for me.”