ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions had to settle for Plan B the last time they hired a head coach. Might they have to do it again?

Peter King of MMQB is reporting he's heard Matt Patricia is the choice over Mike Vrabel in Detroit, but that Patricia favors the Giants job instead. And there was a separate report from the New York Daily News that says all signs point to Patricia heading to the Giants.

Patricia interviewed for both jobs last week, as well as the one in Arizona. He's a hot coaching commodity because of his 14 years alongside Bill Belichick in Foxborough, the last five of which he served as defensive coordinator. And his units allowed fewer than 20 points per game each of the last four years.

They allowed the fifth-fewest points in the league this past regular season, despite obvious personnel deficiencies.

So Patricia is hot right now, especially in Detroit, where former Patriots scout and personnel man Bob Quinn has taken over as general manager. They worked together for 12 seasons in New England, and Quinn has said familiarity with a candidate could factor into his pick.

He also has history with Vrabel, who played for eight seasons in New England, and that helps to explain why he's apparently Plan B. But with only one season as a coordinator -- and a season where his defense gave up the most points in the league -- it's understandable why Patricia would be preferred.

"Obviously, I like to maintain relationships to the best of their ability," Patricia said when asked about Quinn this week. "But really right now my focus is on Tennessee, just trying to get ready for what we've got in front of us. That's really the main thing right now."

New England hosts the Titans on Saturday night in the divisional round of the playoffs. Patricia cannot be hired by anybody until the club is done playing.

But he interviewed with the Giants and the Lions last week, as well as the Cardinals, and it seems only a matter of time before he lands a head job. The only real question is where.

Patricia is considered to have a strong relationship with Quinn, plus the Lions have a franchise quarterback around which to build in Matthew Stafford. But Patricia is also from Sherrill in Upstate New York. He attended high school there, then college at nearby Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He began his coaching career down the road at Amherst and then Syracuse before posting up in Foxborough the last 14 years.

The Lions job makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons, but Patricia's Northeast roots could be tough to overcome.

"(Interviews are) always a learning experience, like when I've been through it before," Patricia said. "You know, you have the opportunity to learn about some other franchises and get a chance to talk about how they do things and really just kind of broaden your whole overall education of what the NFL and the different organizations are.

"It's always a very informative process. It's interesting when you go through it. The good part about it is when it's done, then you really just kind of flip your focus back to the task at hand."