Should Detroit Lions Jim Schwartz be fired?

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Should the Detroit Lions think about firing head coach Jim Schwartz be fired? Bill Simonson of Mlive.com poses the question this morning. According to Simonson, things aren’t happening fast enough in Detroit. He writes that all he sees is a guy standing on the sideline making millions of dollars, who has compiled a 4-21 record, and hasn’t moved the franchise forward. Simonson even invokes the “M” word, Millen, when speaking of the success that former Millen draft choices Roy Williams and Mike Williams. To use the “M” word in a column about Schwartz is just a blow below the belt.

Yes, Schwartz has a career record of 4-21, but look at the state of the franchise when he took over. The Lions were recently 0-16 for an entire season. Coaches are not simply plug and play, rebuilding the Lions has taken some time. Do Lions fans simply want to kick Schwartz to the curb after two seasons and start over again? I understand futility, I grew up as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan in 1976, I can tell you a thing or two about losing and bad teams, the Detroit Lions are not a bad team.

The Lions have had two very solid drafts under Schwartz. There was a lot of purging which had to be done. The Lions this year have fielded perhaps one of the best offensive units Detroit has seen for many season. Detroit has lost 5 games this season by 5 points or less. Yes, there is still much work to be done, but this is not the team which went 0-16 just a few seasons ago.

The head coach has to employ a system which teaches players to win, it’s a mind set. Is it frustrating? Yes. I’m a living survivor of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0-26 run, but shortly after that 0-26 run, in 1979, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went all the way to the NFC Championship game, so anything is possible.

Should Jim Schwartz be fired? I say no, not yet. Give him another season. Have faith.

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  • bruce

    Everyone always wants to fire the coaches when things aren’t working out to their expectations. Blame the players for stupid penalties at crucial times during the game. If you were able to sit down and count all the times Detroit were called for holding, late hits out of bounds, off sides or illegal motion at crucial times during the games, you would be amazed. How many catch able passes were dropped. Coaches can’t play for the players so blame the players for the numbers in the W and L column.