Detroit Lions need to be the next subject of Hard Knocks

The NFL should make the Detroit Lions the subject of the next edition of Hard Knocks and there isn’t anything the Lions can do to block it.

The Detroit Lions have the feel of a team in turmoil. General manager Bob Quinn made the decision to fire Jim Caldwell after back-to-back 9-7 seasons and replaced him with friend and former colleague Matt Patricia. The early returns have been a disaster with a 3-6 record and currently riding a three-game losing streak in which the team has looked flat on both sides of the ball.

The Lions deserve plenty of heat for their play on the field and that is now spilling over off the field. Patricia had his team practice outside on Thursday on a snowy November Michigan day despite the team playing their next four games indoors. Was Patricia punishing his players for poor play or trying to prove a point?

Coaches might like to pretend they don’t hear or are influenced by things that happen outside the building but word of criticism and confusion over yesterday’s practice clearly made it back to Patricia.

He used part of his opening remarks during Friday’s media session to address the thought behind taking Thursday’s practice outside, just steps out the door from the team’s indoor practice field.

It’s hard to see Patricia’s first season in Detroit culminating in a playoff berth. That would make it two season in a row in which the Lions failed to qualify for the postseason and that is where things get interesting.

No, I’m not talking about any changes with the head coach or general manager. As much as some Lions fans might already be over the Quinn-Patricia pairing it would be nearly unfathomable to think the Lions would move on after Patricia’s first season as head coach. Quinn is now in his third season on the job but received a contract extension to line his contract up with the deal given to Patricia.

NFL owners adopted a resolution that allowed the league to force a team to be the subject of HBO’s Hard Knocks, the documentary mini-series that gives fans a behind the scenes view of training camp, if there are no volunteers. Under that resolution, a team is only protected from being forced into appearing if they hired a new coach, have made the playoffs in either of the previous two seasons or have already appeared on the show in the last 10 years.

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A mix of new coaching hires and playoff berths have kept the Lions “safe” from being selected but that streak looks to be coming to an end. Patricia will no longer be a new head coach and the Lions, who have never appeared on Hard Knocks, will not appeared in the playoffs in either of the previous two seasons.

On the surface, the Lions might not seem like a particularly interesting subject. To give an idea how irrelevant the Lions currently are, just consider the TV coverage map for Week 11. The Lions and Panthers game won’t be shown in the Chicago and Milwaukee markets, despite the NFC North connection. Those markets will instead receive the game between the Cowboys and Falcons on their FOX affiliates.

However, there are circumstances in place that would make them an intriguing choice. For starters, the Lions have obvious Patriots influences in both the front office and coaching staff. The Patriots will not be opening up their walls for the show so the league forcing their way inside the Lions’ could give an interesting look for many fans.

Patricia was a hot name on the coaching market but it is fair to say his tenure has been a disappointment so far. Will the former “rocket scientist” get things turned around into year two? Is he destined to be the next failure from the Bill Belichick coaching tree?

The Lions organization has always been on to keep the media at as much of a distance as possible. That’s their prerogative but it can also be to their detriment. Hard Knocks could force them to open up in ways they would not otherwise.

Just like the Browns last year, the Lions feel like a club in turmoil trying to figure things out. People love drama and for as much as the Lions would love to be drama-free, they seem to have a hard time getting out of their own way. I’ve felt in the past that the Detroit Lions have little to gain from appear on Hard Knocks but I now feel they have little to lose. There is no chance the organization would willingly sign up to appear on the show, but I’m all for the league forcing it to happen.