.png) Patricia in 2025 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Defensive coordinator |
| Team | Ohio State |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1974-09-13)September 13, 1974 (age 51) Sherrill, New York, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1992–1995 | RPI |
| Positions | Center Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1996 | RPI (GA) |
| 1999–2000 | Amherst (DL) |
| 2001–2003 | Syracuse (GA) |
| 2004–2005 | New England Patriots (assistant OL) |
| 2006–2010 | New England Patriots (LB) |
| 2011 | New England Patriots (S) |
| 2012–2017 | New England Patriots (DC) |
| 2018–2020 | Detroit Lions |
| 2021 | New England Patriots (senior football advisor) |
| 2022 | New England Patriots (senior football advisor/OL) |
| 2023 | Philadelphia Eagles (senior defensive assistant) |
| 2025–present | Ohio State (DC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | NFL: 13–29–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
Matthew Edward Patricia (born September 13, 1974) is an Americanfootball coach who is currently thedefensive coordinator forOhio State.[1] He previously served 15 non-consecutive seasons as an assistant coach with theNew England Patriots of theNational Football League (NFL), including six seasons as the defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017. During Patricia's tenure as defensive coordinator, the Patriots won twoSuper Bowls and allowed the fewest points in 2016. He also served as the Patriots' offensive playcaller in 2022. Patricia was also the head coach of theDetroit Lions from 2018 to 2020. He was named the defensive coordinator ofOhio State in 2025.
Patricia played atRensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he was a four-yearletterman as acenter andguard with theEngineers football team from 1992 to 1995.[2]
Patricia remained at RPI to begin his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1996.[3] He spent the next two years as an application engineer with Hoffman Air & Filtration Systems inEast Syracuse, New York.[4] After graduating, Patricia received an offer to maintain nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers with theWestinghouse Electric Company,[5] but decided to return to football as thedefensive line coach forAmherst College from 1999 to 2000. In 2001, he moved toSyracuse University as an offensive graduate assistant for the team, a position he held for three seasons.[6]
Patricia joined the Patriots under head coachBill Belichick as an offensive coaching assistant in2004, the same year the team won its third Super Bowl inSuper Bowl XXXIX. In2005, upon the departure of assistant offensive line/tight ends coachJeff Davidson, Patricia was reassigned as the Patriots' assistant offensive line coach. Then-linebackers coachDean Pees was promoted todefensive coordinator after the season, prompting another reassignment for Patricia, this time tolinebackers coach for the2006 season. Patricia was named the team's safeties coach in2011. In2012, he was promoted to the title ofdefensive coordinator, though he had been calling the plays on defense since the departure of Pees following the2009 season. In January 2016, the Patriots gave permission for Patricia to interview for the head-coaching position of theCleveland Browns, but he remained with the Patriots as defensive coordinator going into the 2016 season. The Patriots won three Super Bowls with Patricia:Super Bowl XXXIX at the end of the 2004 season,Super Bowl XLIX at the end of the2014 season, andSuper Bowl LI at the end of the2016 season.[7][8][9] On January 1, 2018 (NFL Black Monday), it was revealed that Patricia was the subject of theDetroit Lions' andNew York Giants' head coaching searches.[10] He was the last defensive playcaller under Belichick to hold the title of defensive coordinator.
On February 5, 2018, Patricia was named the head coach of theDetroit Lions.[11] That May, Lions team presidentRod Wood reaffirmed Patricia's hiring decision.[12][13]
Patricia lost his first two games of the2018 season, the first against theNew York Jets, 48–17, onMonday Night Football on September 10, and the following week against theSan Francisco 49ers, 30–27, on September 16.[14] His first win as a head coach came on September 23, 2018, a 26–10 victory against his previous team, theNew England Patriots, with Patricia beating his old mentor,Bill Belichick, in the process.[14] It was also the Lions' first victory over the Patriots since2000, which was Belichick's first year coaching the Patriots.[14]
Under Patricia, the Lions posted a 6–10 record in2018 and had a dismal 3–12–1 season in2019. His record marked a regression from Patricia's predecessorJim Caldwell, who posted a 9–7 record in 2017 before being fired in favor of Patricia.[15] During Patricia's early years in Detroit, friction between him and defensive backsDarius Slay,[16][17]Glover Quin,[18] andQuandre Diggs[19] among other unnamed players, was documented. Before Patricia's third season as Lions coach, all three had been cut or traded away.[20] Also during this time, he was noted as being late for team meetings and media availability,[21] and during a session of press availability, Patricia demanded a reporter sit with better posture before he would answer the reporter's question.[22] Patricia sought to mend his relationship with reporters, inviting more than a dozen members of the press to a film session to speak privately in May 2019. After the meeting, Carlos Monarrez of theDetroit Free Press noted that Patricia "was less guarded in news conferences", "toned down his caustic critique of players", and "became more punctual".[23] At the end of the 2019 season, Patricia was a finalist for the NFL's Salute to Service award.[24] Despite the record and decline, team ownerMartha Firestone Ford and her soon-to-be successorSheila Ford Hamp announced after the season that they would give Patricia a chance to show improvement in the2020 season.[25]
On November 28, 2020, Patricia and general managerBob Quinn were both fired by the Lions. The firing happened after the 4–5 Lions suffered back-to-back lopsided losses to drop to 4–7: a 20–0 loss to theCarolina Panthers on November 22 (the first time the Lions had been shut out since 2009) and a 41–25 loss to theHouston Texans during the Lions' annualThanksgiving Day game on November 26. Patricia finished his tenure in Detroit with a 13–29–1 (.314) record in two and a half seasons.[26][27] The Lions finished last in the NFC North division in both of Patricia's full seasons and were in last place at the time of his firing.
On January 22, 2021, it was reported that Patricia would be returning to the Patriots "in a variety of roles". The exact roles were not specified, but it was reported that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patricia were working out a role similar to whatMike Lombardi had in New England, though it was still a work in progress. In addition, Patricia was expected to work on projects as well as be a resource to Belichick.[28][29]
On July 21, 2022, the Patriots announced that Patricia would be the senior football advisor andoffensive line coach.[30] Throughout the 2022 season, he served as the offensive playcaller.[31] Patricia was relieved of his duties as offensive playcaller after the season where the offense regressed to an average of 18.1 points per game, although Patricia was retained as a football advisor.[32]
On April 20, 2023, Patricia was hired as a senior defensive assistant for thePhiladelphia Eagles.[33] On December 17, head coachNick Sirianni announced that Patricia would replaceSean Desai as defensive playcaller following consecutive losses in which the team's defense surrendered 42 and 33 points.[34] According toThe Philadelphia Inquirer, the Eagles' defense displayed "little to no improvement" under Patricia, and the team lost three of its four remaining regular season games following his appointment as defensive playcaller, culminating in a 32–9 loss to theTampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round.[35][36][37] Patricia's contract with the Eagles expired at the end of the team's season.[38]
On February 20, 2025, Patricia was hired as the defensive coordinator for theOhio State Buckeyes under head coachRyan Day.[39]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DET | 2018 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 4th in NFC North | — | — | — | — |
| DET | 2019 | 3 | 12 | 1 | .219 | 4th in NFC North | — | — | — | — |
| DET | 2020 | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | Fired | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 13 | 29 | 1 | .314 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |||
Both of Patricia's grandfathers served inWorld War II, one was in the Army tank division in Germany and the other was a Marine who fought in theGuadalcanal campaign. He attendedVernon Verona Sherrill High School and played trumpet in the school's marching band. Patricia would play"Taps" at parades, military funerals, and ceremonies with the rest of the school band or alone on some occasions. He chose to attend the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute because of itsReserve Officers' Training Corps program, and Patricia intended to become a pilot but had a shoulder injury while playing football for the school.[24]
In March 1996, Patricia and another player on RPI's football team were arrested, charged and each indicted on one count of aggravated sexual assault by a Texas grand jury for an incident involving a woman in her hotel room.[40] The men pleaded not guilty and case was dismissed at the request of the accuser after she concluded that she would not testify, according to court records.[40]
Patricia married his wife, Raina, in 2009.[2] They have three children together.[41]
In September 2024, Patricia was featured as the guest host for the first episode of "Coach with Bill Belichick", a football podcast. Belichick praised Patricia on the "Let's Go" podcast withMaxx Crosby,Peter King, andJim Gray later that month.[42][43]
