Sports Radio Interviews

Jim Schwartz Believes In Detroit’s Chances For Quick Turnaround

Heavy Metal day apparently continues here on Sports Radio Interviews with an interview with Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz. Earlier, we checked in with Dallas Cowboys offensive guard Leonard Davis, who plays bass for the heavy metal band Free Reign along with teammates Marc Colombo and Cory Proctor. Schwartz is a bit of a metal head himself as you’ll see soon enough…

You know the story by now – the 2008 version of the Detroit Lions set a record for futility last season by failing to win a single game. It was the first time that dubious feat has been accomplished since the schedule was lengthened to 16 regular season games. Obviously that kind of success – or lack there of – is going to bring about wholesale changes atop the organization. Matt Millen was (finally) canned; as was former head coach Rod Marinelli. His replacement, Jim Schwartz, doesn’t bring much experience with him to Motown, but there’s been plenty of examples recently of how and why that doesn’t necessarily matter.

Schwartz joined WDFN in Detroit to talk about the upcoming training camp, what he’s seen out of his young team thus far – including rookie quarterback Matt Stafford – and what he and his team hope to accomplish one year removed from the worst season in NFL history.

On the roots of his love for heavy rock ‘n roll and heavy:

“I have an autographed guitar of Judas Priest in my office. Cinderella – I used to live down the street from Fred Curry, the drummer of Cinderella in Nashville…My roots are Judas Priest. That’s probably the first band that I was really in to. Bands like Scorpion, Judas Priest, Triumph, Everything Under The Sun…”

On how his experience in the NFL will benefit him, even if his prior gigs were coordinating jobs, not head coaching opportunities:

“I was in Nashville for 10 years – 8 years as defensive coordinator for a guy like Jeff Fisher. Jeff is a really, really good head coach because he’s the head coach. He’s not the defensive coordinator, he’s not the offensive coordinator. He hires good people and trusts them to do their job and he sets the direction and tone for the team. So I had a lot of responsibility in Nashville – maybe more so than other defensive coordinators or other offensive coordinators. I was responsible totally for my side of the ball. So a lot of things I was prepared for and I thank Jeff for doing that.”

On his relationship with William Clay Ford, the owner of the Detroit Lions:

“You know, before I got this job, I got a lot of phone calls from people I respect around the National Football League – some surprising names, some big time names.  You know, I don’t want to call them out but some really, really big time names and a couple of things came out. They said two things to me that really stood out – consistently, every guy that called said a couple things: they said one, you’re going to love living in Detroit. They said don’t let that get in the way of what you think. Your perception, as an outsider, is going to be a lot different than what it’s like. Everyone I know, or when I lived there, loved it there. The other thing they said is you’re going to love working for Mr. Ford. They said he’s one of the best owners in the National Football League; he gets a bad rapt sometimes but he’s going to give you everything you need to be successful. It’s up to you. And sometimes that’s not always the case; sometimes the owner can hamstring a coach in certain ways – maybe financially, maybe in support for the team, facilities, those kind of things. And it was important, as I researched if I was going to take this job, it was important for me to hear that from people that I respected. And they said it’s not always what the perception may be in this city or maybe somewhere else. But we have everything we need here to be successful – it’s up to us to get that done. I feel tremendous responsibility not only to the Ford family but to the City of Detroit. This isn’t an opportunity, this is a responsibility – we have to get this turned around for the city.”

Listen here to Schwartz on WDFN in Detroit with Matt Sheppard

Tags: Detroit Lions, Jim Schwartz, Matt Stafford, WDFN, will the Lions win a game this year?