Detroit Lions Super Bowl LII connections: Jim Schwartz

Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz took over the head coaching duties for the Detroit Lions in 2009. The team that had gone 0-16 the previous season, and three seasons later he took the team to the playoffs.

Jim Schwartz was almost universally detested by the end of his tenure as the Detroit Lions head coach. Once he had been lauded as the cocksure budding superstar of the NFL’s head coaching circles. Schwartz was viewed as a good hire.

He is the energetic type of coach that makes players believe that they are better than they are.  He was also hot-tempered and many would say arrogant. The Lions teams of the Schwartz era were seen in a certain light. They lacked accountability, they lacked discipline, but they never lacked attitude.

The Lions also never lacked an extensive offseason rap sheet. Schwartz never escaped the risky choices of his general manager Martin Mayhew. Schwartz was handed players like Ndamukong Suh, Titus Young, and Nick Fairley. Whether on or off the field, the players of the Schwartz era were nearly as out of control as their coach.

Schwartz white-knuckle gripped the Lions to a playoff berth in 2011 but was unable to sustain that success. Schwartz amassed a 29-51 record as the Lions head coach. He involuntarily moved on at the conclusion of the 2013 season.

Schwartz is now the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator, a role in which he has had much more success. Prior to joining the Lions, he propped up Jeff Fisher in Tennesee. He joined the Doug Maronne’s Buffalo Bills staff and turned that team around in a single year. Marrone pulled the plug, leaving the team when the team was sold, and Schwartz moved on to the league office. Schwartz took over a team running a scheme that could not be more different than his own and very quickly put his players in a position to improve.

Next: Spartans on track to start tourney in Detroit

Despite losing quarterback Carson Wentz, the Eagles are one game from a Superbowl title. The defensive acumen of Jim Schwartz is a huge part of the reason why. Jim Schwartz is likely one win away from making himself next season’s premier head coaching candidate.