“Give Dan Campbell credit for rebuilding the Detroit Lions.”

A few months after legendary former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave credit to former Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia for laying the foundation for Dan Campbell’s current success, Patricia is taking a different approach.

Belichick said in September that the Lions were “enjoying the fruits of Patricia’s labor,” pointing to the Lions’ dominant offensive line that features holdovers from the Patricia-Bob Quinn era.

When asked about his former team on Thursday, Patricia said Dan Campbell deserved credit for finding support throughout the building, but did he also take some credit for having a vision along the way?

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During an appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football,” Patricia was asked about the players still with the team from his time and took the opportunity to highlight center Frank Ragnow, the Lions’ first-round pick in 2018 his belief that “you build the team from the middle”.

“I go straight to Frank Ragnow just because it’s so personal to me,” Patricia said. “That was my first draft pick, you know, sitting there in Round 1 looking before the draft and trying to figure out who was going to be on the board, I think there were about 15 of us or somewhere in the middle of the first round. “And I just loved him.

“He was an offensive lineman, he was a center, I played center, and he was just smart, tough and you could just see when we build the team off the ball, you know, start on the ball and build it off .” Start with the middle position and it was Frank Ragnow.

It’s the last part that fans seem to be clinging to, which sounds like Patricia is acknowledging the vision of building through the line. It’s a strategy that paid off immensely, but not quite the way Patricia likes to remember it.

Three members of the Lions’ current offensive line were on the team when Patricia was in Detroit: Ragnow, Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow. However, Glasgow and Decker were drafted by Quinn while Patricia was still the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, and Quinn and Patricia later allowed Glasgow to leave as a free agent after Patricia’s second season. Two years later, the Lions and new general manager Brad Holmes selected Oregon’s Penei Sewell in the first round (No. 7 overall), who is arguably the catalyst for much of what the Lions are doing on the O-line now.

Patricia was also asked why the team has taken the next step since his departure, and he praised Campbell.

“Give Dan Campbell credit for being able to get the entire building to follow what he wanted them to do, believe in what they preached, go out there and work hard,” Patricia said.

“Sometimes it just takes a little spark, a little bit of belief, and we’ve seen that with individual players who go out and suddenly make a play and become a great player in the league. It’s no different with a team.”

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“Give Dan Campbell credit for rebuilding the Detroit Lions.”

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