Eagles senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia not returning to team in 2024

The Philadelphia Eagles stumbled down the stretch in the second half of the 2023-2024 season and many NFL fans knew there were going to be a number of changes to their franchise. On Sunday evening, we got word that defensive coordinator Sean Desai was let go. A few hours later, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero broke the news that senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia is no longer under contract.

Patricia will explore other opportunities this offseason and will not return to Philadelphia. He took over the defensive play-calling for the Eagles last month.

Sean Desai was hired by Philly in February to replace Jonathan Gannon, who became the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Nick Sirianni demoted Desai in favor of Patricia following blowout losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys in early December.

The switch to Patricia only made things worse for the Eagles. Their defense gave up 30 points per game in their last four games, including 32 points in their Wild Card loss against Tampa Bay. The Philadelphia defense allowed the third-most points per game during the regular season (25.2). The unit also ranked 30th in both red zone and third-down defense. The Eagles allowed 35 passing touchdowns, ranking them second most in the league in that category.

Patricia spent several years with Bill Belichick in New England (2012-2017), working as their defensive coordinator during the Patriots dynasty. He won three Super Bowls during his time there. Even though his background is heavily rooted in defense, Belichick decided to make Patricia the Patriots’ offensive coordinator in 2022, following the departure of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The move led to disastrous results, as you might imagine. Belichick then decided to bring in Bill O’Brien as the offensive coordinator in 2023.

Before joining the Patriots in 2004, Patriots cut his teeth as an offensive graduate assistant for the Syracuse Orange, at the college ranks (2001-2003). He also worked as an assistant for Amherst (1999-2000) and RPI (1996). He’s spent a good majority of his coaching career (15 non-consecutive seasons) with the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick.

Bill Belichick has been interviewing for numerous head coaching jobs across the NFL this offseason, so it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see Patricia and Josh McDaniels possibly reunite with their old boss. McDaniels was recently fired as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Their new head coach is Antonio Pierce.