Former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell hired as Lions OC

Two years removed from his dismissal as Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell has a new job.

It was announced on Wednesday that Bevell is headed for the Detroit Lions to replace the wonderfully named Jim Bob Cooter as the team’s OC. Bevell was not hired by any team in 2018, but did have interest from the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars this year before the Lions hired him.

The Lions were a pretty disappointing 6-10 this season, which marked Matt Patricia’s first as the team’s head coach. One of the big problems Detroit suffered was a poor offense, ranking 25th in points scored, 23rd in DVOA, and Matthew Stafford had his fewest passing yards (3,777) since 2010, when he played only three games and had a season-ending injury.

Bevell was, of course, Seattle’s OC from 2011-2017, and despite repeatedly fielding top-10 offenses by DVOA under Russell Wilson, he was a lightning rod for criticism even during Seattle’s best years, and then when the offense started to falter in his last two seasons, the Seahawks let him go.

Patricia and Bevell certainly have a history of competing against each other. The Russell Wilson revolution started with Seattle beating New England in Patricia’s first year as Patriots DC, then Patricia exacted revenge with the play that shall not be named at Super Bowl XLIX, only for Bevell to return fire with Wilson torching the Patriots defense for 300+ yards and three touchdowns in a 31-24 win in Foxboro. That was New England’s only loss all season with Tom Brady starting.

Now Patricia and Bevell are on the same coaching staff, and in need of the offense to be fixed up pretty heavily. Patricia’s first season was a major step down from the end of the Jim Caldwell era, so he might be one of the names on the hot seat entering next season.