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It feels like the Lions have been trying to put together a consistently effective running game since the day Barry Sanders announced his retirement and Matt Patricia will be the next head coach to tackle that issue.

Patricia’s approach is not expected to include naming one of his assistants as a run game coordinator. That title has popped up with other teams, but General Manager Bob Quinn said it won’t be in use with the Lions because the other assistants will be taking care of those responsibilities.

“I don’t think Matt or I are big into titles,” Quinn said, via the Detroit News. “I think sometimes, when you look at other teams, you see all these titles and there’s reasons why they give those titles, to get guys out of contracts, give them more money and promotions. Matt and my philosophy is everybody will have their jobs to do. The running game is going to be a combination of head coach, offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, tight ends coach, running backs coach and maybe, to a small degree, receivers coach. This is going to be a collaborative thing.”

However the responsibilities are divvied up, finding the right mix between coaching and talent to spark the running game would make life easier for Patricia and Quinn as they try to build a consistent winner right out of the gate.