Detroit Lions Make Unexpected Coaching Move
The Detroit Lions made an unexpected coaching move this week.
On Saturday the team announced that it was hiring Brayden Coombs to be Detroit’s new special teams coordinator.
Coombs joins the Lions fresh off a 10-year run with the Cincinnati Bengals. While it may seem odd to poach talent off the league’s worst team last season, special teams was actually the one thing Cincinnati was good at.
This is a pretty interesting and important hire for #Lions coach Matt Patricia. Just 33 years old, he’s considered a rising star in the coaching ranks. https://t.co/SprPxym0wt
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2020
In 2019, the Bengals were in the top ten as it pertained to kickoff returns, field goal percentage, punt coverage and kickoff coverage.
Prior to taking over special teams, Coombs served as an offensive assistant. He originally joined Cincinnati in 2009 as an intern.
Special teams has been a consistent problem area for Detroit over the past few seasons. The team has gone through three special teams coordinators in as many years and desperately needs some stability there.
The Lions finished the 2019 season with a 3-12-1 record, good for dead last in the NFC North. It is widely assumed that if Matt Patricia does not turn the ship around in 2020, he will be fired.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
I saw the headline and though that it wouldn’t be surprising to see Patricia fired.