Coach Jim Schwartz/Lions photo.
In today’s NFL, five years is an eternity.
After all, the Browns just canned their head coach after one. The Buccaneers gave their man two. The Vikings, three and change.
When the lights finally went out on Jim Schwartz’s Lions’ career today, it wasn’t for lack of opportunity. He was given the keys to this cursed castle for half a decade. In the end, the clunker could not be transformed into a gem.
Sure, there was the much-ballyhooed playoff season of 2011 when the team somehow scratched out ten wins before getting rocked by Drew Brees and company in the postseason’s opening round. But that only takes you so far. Fans and supporters of Schwartz would continue to point to that “magical” year, waxing poetically about how the fiery coach rescued an 0-16 team and took them dancing in January. But in the parity-driven world of the National Football League, the worst-to-first jump is worth little more than a cursory glance in said team’s direction.
This year’s script was almost too farfetched to believe. First, both challengers in the division lost their starting quarterback. There is no more valuable position in all of professional sports, and here were two teams trying to chug along with journeyman backups. Second, the schedule set up like a practical red carpet to the playoffs. Home games against the Bucs and Giants, a highly winnable road finale in Minnesota. And even when the Lions failed to capitalize on these opportunities, their path was still all clear.
Almost Comical
In an almost comical Week 16, both the Bears and Packers suffered crucial losses, reopening the door nice and wide for the Lions to step through. Just take care of business against a pair of sinking squads and a Ford Field playoff game would be a reality. But alas, Jim Schwartz and his merry band of vagabond defensive backs could not get the job done. And he is without a job today.
But really, a coach’s fate in the NFL is tied directly to his quarterback. The game has changed indescribably in the last three-to-five years. The pendulum has swung so far towards overall safety that what used to be a “dangerous throw over the middle” is now “a safe pass where the receiver must be given full opportunity to catch the ball and turn upfield.” Defenses are shackled, and a good quarterback with a few dangerous weapons can turn an otherwise ordinary squad into a Super Bowl contender.
Look at John Fox, for example. In his last season in Carolina, he won a grand total of two games. His quarterback was Jimmy Clausen, with a host of other anonymous men thrown into the mix. He then made his way to Denver, eking out a .500 record with Tim Tebow performing all sorts of miracles along the way. By nobody’s estimation was Fox a Hall of Fame coach. But then, enter Peyton Manning.
Fox was joined in the Mile High City by #18, and just like that, he posted back-to-back 13-win campaigns. Did Fox get smarter? Did he unlock some secret to winning football? No. He just got himself a great quarterback. Jim Schwartz never had that luxury.
When you look back on his tenure, it’s hard to identify what the Schwartz calling card was. He was defensive-minded when he arrived, but I can’t recall an instance in the five years to follow when an opposing offense trembled in anticipation of an afternoon with the Lions. He was brash and outspoken at times, but more or less vanilla with his approach on game days.
Risk Taker?
His misguided attempt to act like a risk-taker in the Pittsburgh game (failing to kick a FG when up four in the final quarter) was ill-timed and reeked of desperation. A win-at-all-costs mentality is to be envied, but there’s a time and place for such gunslinging. These instincts that define the likes of Belichick or Harbaugh (x2) forever evaded Schwartz.
He was not the worst coach in Detroit Lions history. That dark corner is reserved for Rod Marinelli, or even Marty Mornhinweg. He definitely wasn’t the most successful coach in recent memory. That prestigious honor belongs to Wayne Fontes, owner of playoff appearances in half of his eight seasons. Schwartz wasn’t atrocious enough to get kicked to the curb after one season, but didn’t do nearly enough to warrant another day in office.
This franchise with a Cubs-like history of failure chalks up another loss today and continues its lifelong quest to find the coach that will not just turn this ship around momentarily, but steer it all the way to the promised land.
The search continues...
