[ad_1]
A few weeks ago, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell admitted that he was chasing the dream of becoming the NFL head coach for all of his 20 years as a major league coach.
“I’ve been hunting him for a while,” Bevell said. “I think the most important thing for me to do – I always say this – is to do the job I have right now to the best of my ability and let all those other things take care of themselves. .
Well, Saturday the rest took care of themselves. Head Coach Matt Patricia and General Manager Bob Quinn were relieved of their duties and Bevell was promoted to interim head coach. Although he admitted that this wasn’t necessarily how he thought it would end up happening, it was difficult for him to hide his excitement for the opportunity.
“I’m super excited. I’m a little excited for this opportunity, ”Bevell said to kick off his first Zoom press conference as interim head coach.
Bevell learned the news of his promotion on Saturday afternoon while at the Henry Ford Museum with his family. Since then, he has already worked tirelessly in his new position. A quick meeting with the team to break the news, then he was back at work on Saturday night, spending all Sunday at the team premises and working remotely with the team again on Monday.
Although Bevell was very careful not to disparage Patricia or her methods, it was clear from his first press conference that he had plans to change behavior around Allen Park.
“I expect them to bring their energy, to bring a new, refreshed attitude,” Bevell said of his players. “When they enter the building on Wednesday, they will have a new perspective.”
This new perspective seems to be all about making things more flexible and making the environment a lot more fun around those parts.
“I ask the guys to come in with a refreshed demeanor, ready to work number one, but ready to have a good time, and leave their hair on fire,” Bevell said. “Let them play fast, let them play for free.”
The word “fun” came up several times during the press conference and really seemed to stick in the air. Given Patricia’s bossy style, Bevell seemed to make several veiled references to make the atmosphere in Detroit more fun again, but would back down when asked directly if the players were having fun under the former head coach.
“There’s no fun in losing,” Bevell said.
However, it’s hard to hear this from Bevell and not think that he’s making a direct reference to Patricia’s coaching style.
“It’s important to know that in order to be able to have a good time and work hard, it doesn’t have to be individual agreements,” Bevell said. “You can have a good time and work hard. That’s what I told the guys, and that’s what I want them to do. It was never really about their work. They work hard. I am delighted to be able to bring them this attitude. ”
Bevell knows this is a five-game audition for him, and he plans to treat it as such. Opportunities like this don’t present themselves often and team president Rod Wood has already given him reassurance that he will have the opportunity to take the full-time job in 2021 if he shows any. sufficiently in the last month of the season.
“I talked about it briefly with Rod,” Bevell said. “As I know, it’s about winning in this business. No matter what, I have five weeks to audition. He said, ‘Yes, that would be a possibility.’ ”
When it comes to tangible changes on the pitch, Bevell said he will continue to call games on offense and leave defensive calls to defensive coordinator Cory Undlin. Bevell said Patricia gave him a lot of leeway, but he also wanted to see more consistency in the explosive games, which have been sorely lacking this year. Last year, Matthew Stafford made eight games over 40 yards in just eight games. This year, he’s only played five to eleven games.
But if you’re expecting a completely different offensive philosophy starting next week against the Chicago Bears, Bevell is keeping it a secret … for now.
“I think we’ll have to wait and find out.”
You can watch Bevell’s intro presser here, as well as Stafford’s session:
[ad_2]
Source link