If you can beat 'em, hire 'em.
The Philadelphia Eagles have hired former New England Patriots assistant Matt Patricia as a "senior defensive assistant," ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Thursday afternoon.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said earlier Thursday his team was "trending in (the) direction" of hiring Patricia, citing his experience at the NFL level.
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"Obviously his resume speaks for itself," Sirianni said, via ESPN's Mike Reiss. "He gives you a great mind in there that's done it at the highest level; gives me another former head coach I can bounce ideas off."
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Patricia does have a long resume -- but whether it's a good one is up for debate. He spent his first 14 NFL seasons with the Patriots, including six as a defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017. His final game in that role was Super Bowl LII, a 41-33 loss to the Eagles in which Philly racked up 538 yards against Patricia's defense.
Patricia then spent three rocky seasons as head coach of the Detroit Lions, compiling a 13-29-1 record from 2018 to 2020 while drawing strong criticism from several players -- including current Eagles cornerback Darius Slay.
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Patricia then returned to the Patriots in an advisory role and assumed offensive play-calling duties in 2022; the result was a "dysfunctional" offense that ranked 26th in the NFL in yards per game.
It sounds like Patricia will be in more of an advisory role with Philly, and he could have some valuable insights after working with Bill Belichick for the better part of two decades.
In any case, it's clear his days in New England were numbered after the team hired Bill O'Brien as its new offensive coordinator this offseason.