With Matt Patricia all but wrapped up as the next Detroit Lions head coach, our attention turns to the team’s next biggest coaching vacancy: defensive coordinator. Considering defense is Patricia’s background, there’s no doubt he is going to take this hiring very seriously.
Now that we’ve learned that defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, as well as defensive line assistant Matt Raich are headed elsewhere in 2018, it seems unlikely that Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn decide on promoting from within. So here are five potential candidates that could be coordinating the Detroit Lions defense next season.