The Detroit Lions are keeping things from getting awkward. They’ve sidestepped the tension. Their head coach, Matt Patricia, was the New England Patriots defensive coordinator for Super Bowl XLIX. Their new offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell, was the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks in that game, the finale of the 2014 season.
We all remember how it ended: Bevell called for a Russell Wilson pass on second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, which Malcolm Butler intercepted in the end zone. That essentially ended the game.
That night hasn’t come up between Patricia and Bevell, who joined Patricia’s staff this offseason and replaced Jim Bob Cooter.
“Totally was not a part of the conversation at all,” Patricia said on Wednesday during a meeting with reporters at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. “I think there was a mutual just eye connection that was like, ‘We’re not going to talk about that and we’ll just move on to now.'”
And the coaching staff didn’t spontaneously tear one another to pieces.
