After last season, Matt Patricia, who was the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, was hired as the head coach of the Detroit Lions. Patricia's tenure with the team quickly became controversial when The Detroit News published a story in May saying he was charged in August of 1996 with aggravated sexual assault. Patricia was only indicted and was never tried for it and later said he was "falsely accused."
Today, Lions general manager Bob Quinn met with the media at the team's end of the year press conference where he was asked about Patricia's hiring.
"I’m not paid to do extensive background checks," Quinn said. "I’m here to select the head coach. I’m very comfortable with Matt Patricia as our head coach."
Quinn was asked whether or not they would have hired Patricia if they knew a story of that magnitude was going to be run. The general manager was quick to say he didn't want to think about any "what if" scenarios.
"Yeah, I’m not going to deal in hypotheticals," he said. "I didn’t know at the time and going forward we’re just going to stand by our statement."
Patricia and the Lions finished the season 6-10 and failed to make the playoffs.