The Detroit Lions Have The Schwartz

On Thursday, Titans defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, took a big leap with his coaching career by accepting the head coach position with the Detroit Lions. Schwartz will become the head coach of this once proud NFL franchise that has only one playoff win in the last 50 years. The team has question marks at just about every position on either side of the ball and whose fans are grow more apathetic every season.

Schwartz began his career in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns as a scout and spent 8 years with the Titans as their defensive coordinator. While there, he helped create one of the top defenses in the NFL since his arrival. He will be joining an organization that has no experience in the general manager or team president positions. During the 2008 season, the Lions had four different quarterbacks running the team where the most consistent scoring threat was their kicker, Jason Hanson.

The biggest area of concern for Schwartz going into the Lions off season has to be the woeful defense that finished dead last in the NFL in the majority of the statistical categories. The Lions gave up an average of 404.4 yards per game while allowing their opponents to score 32.3 points per game. By comparison, the Steelers owned the # 1 defense in the NFL only gave up 13.9 points per game, a staggering 18.4 differential. The Titans defense was not too far behind, giving up only 14.6 points and 293.6 total yards per game.

What does this mean for fans of a team where the coaches, general managers, and owners seem never be on the same wave length?

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They will need the team to complete drastic changes for their failed Tampa 2 defense and find a way to have continuous success on the offensive side of the ball. The key to their rebuilding efforts will be through the draft. In the upcoming 2009 draft, the Lions have 5 picks out of the first 200, including 2 first round picks.

The Detroit Lions position is perfect for one of the most sought after coordinators in the NFL. Schwartz is in a win-win situation with the Lions because they can not get any worse. If he is only able to manage a couple of wins over the next few seasons, people will say he did not much talent to work with and was put in an impossible position. Of course if Schwartz is able to have success with the Lions and get to an 8 – 8 record or even a playoff spot, he will become one of the most sought after coaches.

Jim Schwartz said it best when he was remarked, “There is no better feeling than turning a situation around.”

By JM Van Horn
ProFootball-fans.com Detroit Lions Correspondent