Since Matt Patricia arrived in the NFL as a fresh-faced assistant in 2004, Romeo Crennel has been something of a father figure for the Detroit Lions head coach.
In New England, where coach Bill Belichick will put you through the meat grinder to see if you have what it takes, Patricia got the standard experience for a young assistant — a heavy workload, long hours and what amounted to a closet for a work space.
In fact, Patricia shared that closet with another first-year, low-level assistant coach. That guy was Cory Undlin, who now serves as his defensive coordinator in Detroit.