Team meetings at the 2020 Senior Bowl are underway and the players will hit the practice field for the first time tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon. Given that the Detroit Lions are coaching the North squad in the all star game, it seemed to only make sense that head coach Matt Patricia would soon be announcing new position coaches for the team’s tight ends, linebackers, and defensive backs.

Turns out, we may be waiting a while longer. According to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, the Lions likely won’t have a full staff in place this week:

Patricia’s failure to put a full coaching staff together for the Senior Bowl is a red flag, and more than that, a missed opportunity for a team and a coaching staff that has to make 2020 count.

I’m all for the Lions taking their time and making sure that they hire the right person for the job, but there’s no reason why the hiring process for these position coaches should be taking this long. And to show up to Mobile shorthanded – especially after assuring executives at the Senior Bowl the team would have a full staff in place – reeks of amateur hour.

It has been three weeks since the Lions announced that they were firing several members of their coaching staff, and while the team has hired a new special teams coordinator, defensive coordinator and offensive line and assistant offensive line coaches in that time, the team still has multiple vacancies at key positions. Patricia had to have known long before he made the decision to fire his tight ends, linebackers, and defensive backs coaches that he’d likely be in the market for new voices at those positions, and he should have had a short list of replacements ready the moment the staff changes were announced (if not before).

And if Patricia had no idea who he planned on hiring, the first question he should have been asking potential defensive coordinators is who those coaches wanted to coach linebackers and defensive backs. And if the coordinator candidate did not have a good answer at the ready, Patrica should have moved on.

Not having new coaches in place comes at a significant opportunity cost for the Lions. Only two teams get a chance to coach the Senior Bowl each year, and doing so creates a tremendous advantage for the teams that are chosen. It’s a rare opportunity to see potential draft picks up close and personal, on the practice field and off. You can see who is a fit for your scheme and culture, and, perhaps more importantly, who is not.

Yes, the Lions will still have plenty of coaches in Mobile, but not having a full staff in place is simply a missed opportunity. Who better to provide feedback about which cornerback or safety may be a fit for the Lions than the position coach who will spend the most time with that player once he is drafted? Who better to form a bond with a potential undrafted rookie who you can then call after the draft and convince to come to Detroit over 31 other teams? Yet the Lions have forgone that opportunity by not being able to put a full staff together before traveling to Mobile.

If the Lions want to be like the San Francisco 49ers, and go from coaching in Mobile to coaching in the Super Bowl, everything has to go right in 2020, and the team has to take advantage of every single opportunity – no matter how small – to make that happen.

And while it is not the end of the world to not have a full coaching staff in place for the Senior Bowl, it is an unforced error from a coaching staff that cannot afford to be making those kind of mistakes.

newsletter Get 10 hot stories each day Thanks for signing up.

Please check your email for a confirmation. Thanks for signing up.

Please check your email for a confirmation.