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On Friday, MDS raised an intriguing point regarding the replacement of Jim Caldwell with Matt Patricia in Detroit. If Caldwell got fired for going 9-7, what happens to Patricia at the end of a season that has started with seven losses in eleven games?

Not a thing, would be the answer.

Yes, it’s been a little rocky at times for Patricia. But he’s working for a franchise that for 60 years has largely stunk. In 2016, the Lions celebrated the 25th anniversary of their last playoff win, which really isn’t something to celebrate but lament. This year, the Lions celebrated the 25th anniversary of their last division title, which means that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who left the NFC Central 16 years ago when it became the NFC North — has won the Lions’ division more recently than the Lions have.

Starting with the hiring in 2016 of G.M. Bob Quinn, who strongly considered replacing Caldwell at the time (presumably for Patricia), the Lions began a dramatic reshaping of a franchise that has been among the most dysfunctional in the NFL for decades. Patricia’s arrival brings that culture change directly to the locker room, and to the media covering a traditionally underachieving team. Remember the stupid take from the offseason program that Patricia risks losing his team because, egads, he’s making them run? Given that Patricia carries with him years of experience on how things get done the right way in the most successful NFL program of the salary cap (or any) era, maybe his effort to migrate Massachusetts to Michigan should get the benefit of the doubt, at least for the first year or two.

Patricia hasn’t helped his own cause at times, chiding a reporter for slouching during a press conference (that one should have been handled privately) and getting salty with the media when pressed for answers regarding a decision to practice in the snow, even though the team won’t face the prospect of playing in the snow until the middle of December. The best explanation for the behavior is this: After 14 years of working with Coach Doom, it would take some time for anyone to shed the Belichickian crustiness that becomes easy to pull off with so many pelts on the wall.

With 52 Super Bowls played, the Lions have no pelts on the wall. They haven’t even played for a pelt, and they’ve rarely played in the game that would give them a chance to play in the game that gives out the pelts. Patricia brings with him the DNA of a team that has won five championships since 2001.

So it’s going to take some time for a coach who knows how to win the biggest games to help transform a team that can’t even get to the biggest games to instill the habits, attitudes, and discipline that will make the Lions competitive.

But the clock will be ticking loudly, because those who resist change will resent Patricia unless and until the team starts to win. And if the team doesn’t start winning sooner than later, those who would prefer to return to the days when something far less than mediocre was deemed to be acceptable will get their way.