Detroit Lions Fire Head Coach Matt Patricia And GM Bob Quinn

On Saturday, the Detroit Lions announced the firing of head coach Matt Patricia and General Manager Bob Quinn.

According to ESPN, Patricia’s record with the team was 13-29-1 since taking over as head coach in 2018. The team spent two straight seasons at under .500 and are in the middle of a third season where the team is sitting under .500 at midseason. Quinn had been the team’s general manager since 2016, with a record of 31-43-1.

“It was something that we had been thinking about for several weeks and going back and forth and deciding,” the team’s owner, Sheila Ford Hamp, said on Saturday.

“It was a hard decision because they are both terrific people and worked very hard and tirelessly for this organization,” she continued. “It just clearly wasn’t working. It wasn’t what we had hoped for when we hired them, and so I don’t know if there was an exact moment.”

Darrell Bevell, the team’s offensive coordinator, will serve as interim head coach. General manager duties will be handled by several front-office executives who will report to team president Rod Wood.

Hamp said she and Wood have not decided whether they will follow a traditional GM-head coach structure or go a different route. They will conduct a comprehensive search for candidates and intend to follow the Rooney Rule. The Rooney Rule is a National Football League policy that requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior operations positions. 

Detroit has not won a playoff game since 1991 and has not won a division title since 1993.