News broke on Thursday that the Philadelphia Eagles were hiring former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia as a senior defensive assistant coach. Several sources reported the news of Patricia’s hiring.
Yet the Eagles do not list Patricia on their current coaching roster. All of the other new hires and promotions are current. Patricia is not on the team’s press release, either.
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But he once was. It seems the team scrubbed him from all communications. As Glenn Erby of Eagles Wire notes,
One name on the list was former Patriots assistant and Lions head coach Matt Patricia, who was supposed to be a Senior Defensive Assistant.
By 2:00 PM Eastern time, Patricia was no longer listed among the coaching hires.
There is no official word now on if Patricia is still with the Eagles. Perhaps they were shamed into revoking his status, or maybe Pro Bowl CB Darius Slay had some say. Patricia and Slay infamously clashed in Detroit before the cornerback was traded away to the Eagles.
However, Eagles head coach Nick Siriianni praised Patricia in a press conference. Sirianni also explained that Patricia had not yet been hired officially,
“I know there was a report out that that was said and we’re trending in that direction,” said Sirianni. “Nothing is final yet. We’re trending in that direction. So, we’ll see how that progresses, but it’s trending in that direction, yes.”
Based on what Sirianni said, it appears the Eagles are indeed going to hire Patricia. But it’s not a done deal yet, and the erasure of any mention of Patricia by the team certainly raises an eyebrow.
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