Lions Ownership Discussing Firing Jim Schwartz

Submitted by MGoVoldemort on
ESPN's Chris Mortenson (contradicting an earlier report by Michigan's own Adam Schefter) is reporting that Lions ownership is having discussions about firing Schwartz. They're reportedly concerned with the severe off the field image hit the team has taken of late, along with the obvious disappointment of finishing 4-12 after a playoff year. @ProFootballTalk: A week after Schefty said Jim Schwartz is safe, Mort says Schwartz could be fired http://t.co/ipOhrlr3 Personally, I'd just clean house and show Mayhew the door as well. Mayhew put this roster together, and has to shoulder as much blame as anyone. Also, if his draft record is to come into focus, he has clearly been unable to add starters in the secondary, line backing, or the offensive line. I think the playoff appearance last year masks a lot of porous drafting.

AlwaysBlue

December 30th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^

I'd be looking at Mayhew before Schwartz.  How can a guy get away with the weak drafts...Best (a concussion question coming out of college), Titus Young (an attitude question coming out of college) and Broyles (an injury problem coming out of college). How you can you gamble with so many high round draft picks, especially when representing a talent poor organization with little room for error.

Blarvey

December 30th, 2012 at 2:04 PM ^

Going into this year, I would have thought firing Schwartz for a sub-.500 season would be ridiculous but 7 (8?) straight losses and 0-5 (0-6?) in the division is awful, not matter how strong the NFC North looks. Losing to Houston, Indianapolis, and one each of Minnesota and Green Bay were inexcusable, and the Arizona and Tennessee games were just embarrassing.

Time for new blood, but if Schwartz is fired, I think the Detroit job has to be one of the better ones that will be available this year and with the team that is in place right now (minus the secondary and receivers) is certainly much better than walking into one of the Millen teams.

maizenbluedevil

December 30th, 2012 at 2:52 PM ^

Interesting point about this being one of the better openings in the NFL this year if Schwartz is fired.

I wonder if Chip Kelly is a possibility.  That'd be pretty random but stranger things have happened, and if nothing else it'd be an interesting ride with him at the helm.  I have a feeling it'd be one of those things that'd either go really well or really terribly (aka, not any worse than the rest of our lifetime), so really there's only potential upside.

The only question is whether our offensive personnel would fit his system, but there's certainly a lot of talent for him to work with on offense.

ca_prophet

December 30th, 2012 at 3:19 PM ^

... If it's one of the better jobs, but we draft poorly and have bad ownership, what makes it good?

At any rate, you haven't been watching if you think that losing to three of the best teams on our schedule (Green Bay, Houston, Indianapolis) was inexcusable. JJ Watt has a legitimate case for MVP, Rodgers is moving out of All-Pro status and into legendary company, and Luck has a good case for RotY. We don't have anyone playing that well except Megatron, and it is difficult to win games from WR. It's actually pretty hard to win games from any single position - can't run or throw if you can't win the line of scrimmage - but WR needs nearly everything else to work.

Arizona looks a lot worse now with QB5 and 6 running for cover, but they also beat New England.

Blarvey

December 30th, 2012 at 4:25 PM ^

In the last three years, I would say that Detroit has drafted the early rounds as good as anyone. Best and Young may be the biggest misses but they were productive when they played.

Agree on the losses being to good teams, but when they have been playing from behind most of the season and can't hold the few leads they do have, that is at least partially on the coaches.

Don

December 30th, 2012 at 3:16 PM ^

after all the previous 31 losing seasons under Ford ownership. It doesn't fundamentally matter whether Schwartz or Mayhew are fired; if they are, the Fords will hire two more incompetent underachievers in their place. If the Fords had been in charge of the U.S. military in 1862, they'd have kept McClellan in place and forced Grant out of the service.

GunnersApe

December 30th, 2012 at 3:19 PM ^

Not with Matt at QB. There's no way I would clean house unless you could get a top of the line coach (which the Lions cant). So stay the course and hope for DB's in April and a healthy team next fall.

NoMoPincherBug

December 30th, 2012 at 3:28 PM ^

The Lions almost always start games slowly, get in a big hole and then have to try and come back in the second half.  A lot of that pattern is "on" the coaching staff for not preparing the team properly for the opponent, game planning etc. not to mention team morale etc. which play factors in early game performance.  There is some talent there, but the coaches are not prepping them well.

JHendo

December 30th, 2012 at 4:30 PM ^

I'm not used to not watching the Lions on Turkey day. You do realize that the end of the Ford era for the Lions means the end of the Lions always hosting a game on Thansgiving? The elder Ford's pledge to have the Big 3 pull advertising during NFL games is all that's keeping this tradition for us. For that reason alone, it's almost worth keeping the Ford's around.

wildbackdunesman

December 30th, 2012 at 3:51 PM ^

Speaking of Schwartz - shouldn't he have gone for 2 there?

 

Roughly 6:40 left and the TD pulls us to within 3 points...he kicks the PAT to be down 2 points....

What is the benefit of that?

Seems to me that the PAT doesn't make much of a difference between getting no points and the 2 point conversion if good would allow your D to give up a TD and still be down a score (8 points).

cadmus2166

December 30th, 2012 at 4:22 PM ^

He's a hothead and a mediocre coach.  Especially if the Lions are able to get Bill O'Brien, Bill Cowher, Nick Saban, Andy Reid, Chip Kelly, or anyone in the ballpark of those names, they need to let Schwartz go, and also learn how to make character as much or more of a priority as talent.  The Lions are really making it hard to root for them at this point.

FrankMurphy

December 30th, 2012 at 4:32 PM ^

No successful college coach (Chip Kelly, Nick Saban, Bill O'Brien) would leave a secure job to coach the Lions. They may be interested in an NFL job, but not with the Lions.

Also, when has it ever NOT been hard to root for the Lions? You act like this is unexpected or an aberration. Last year's playoff appearance was an aberration. The default expectation is that the Lions will be a train wreck. Frankly, I'm surprised when the Lions beat anyone.

cadmus2166

December 30th, 2012 at 5:01 PM ^

It has always been hard to root for the Lions, but this year seems to be the worst, with all of the off-field transgressions and Titus Young proving that he is a massive idiot.  But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't WANT it to be different.  I'd like to think that someday it might be possible to root for them whole-heartedly.  As long as the Fords own the Lions, probably unlikely in reality, I guess.

uminks

December 30th, 2012 at 4:27 PM ^

Both the GM and Coach should be shown to door for an 8 game losing streak. The lions do have talent at QB and WR. Also, the DL on paper is as talented as any in the NFL. LB are average. DB are poor...but still this team should have finished with 7 or 8 wins. This is a big drop off from their lucky season last year but there is no hope for this bunch going forward.

hfhmilkman

December 30th, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^

Here is my reasoning why Schwartz should not be fired.   Going into the 2012 draft the Lions had some huge needs.   In my opinion they needed a shut down corner, another safety, a run blocking guard, and a pass rushing DE.   Instead they drafted an offensive tackle with their 1st pick and a injured wide receiver with their 2nd pick.   This was puzzling since Backus and Burlson were not going anywhere.  The only thing I could think of is that Mayhew was conceding 2012 and playing for 2013.  Both Burlson and Backus will be gone and then the picks make sense.

Now we can argue whether playing that far ahead is a good idea.  If the consensous is that is a terrible idea then we can talk about Mayhew being fired.   The bigest problem with the Lions  in my opinion is horrible play in the secondary.  3 10+ 2nd half leads were lost and multiple other games lost because we did not have a corner who could cover a dead opposum.  That was not Schwartz's fault.

Maybe Schwartz is a terrible coach after all for other reasons.   But he can only work with the players given to him by the GM.   And yes, the Fords have no clue how to be competent owners of a NFL franchise.

 

 

uminks

December 30th, 2012 at 5:12 PM ^

Schwartz will be around at least another year since Ford gave him a contract extension through 2015. It seems like the GM has their salary cap all screwed up, so I don't think they will be able to sign any FA DB and FS. Another problem is that any one who is good probably would not want to play for a losing team. So, it will take years to draft a full defensive back field, a RB and new OL. It is possible this team will reach .500 next season but looking at some of the bone headed coaching decision, Schwartz will be lucky to win 6 or 7 next season.