In another lifetime, before he became the most popular Eagles assistant coach since Jim Johnson, Jim Schwartz was head coach of the Lions.
In 2009, he took over a team that was coming off its eighth straight losing season and the only 0-16 record in NFL history, and by 2011, the Lions were 10-6 and in the playoffs.
"Our goal was to win a championship, and we didn't get that done," Schwartz recalled Thursday. "I was disappointed with that. I'm sure the people of Detroit were disappointed with that. We're trying to win games, and I didn't win enough in Detroit."
The way the Eagles’ defense has performed since Schwartz took over, it’s hard to imagine Schwartz failing at anything.
But that 10-6 in 2011 was Schwartz's only winning season in five years in Detroit, and he was fired after the 2013 season.
Schwartz returns to Detroit this weekend with the No. 1 defense in the NFL.
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And he’ll be coaching against a team he roots for just about every day.
“I think you guys would probably be surprised how much I root for the Lions,” Schwartz said. “As long as it's not in direct conflict with the Eagles, I want those guys to win every week.
“I've got too much blood and sweat in that building, and there's a lot of guys there that mean an awful lot to me. Start with [Matthew] Stafford and [Brandon] Pettigrew and [DeAndre] Levy. Those guys were my first draft class. I want those guys to succeed.
“I don't want them to succeed this Sunday. I'm going to do my very best to try to beat them, but I think everybody would be surprised how much you have relationships that just don't go away when you leave or a player leaves. Those guys have had my back when I coached there, and I've had their back, and I'm sure that'll continue. Not this Sunday, though.”
Schwartz went just 29-51 in his five years in Detroit, and his .363 winning percentage ranks 163rd out of 171 coaches in NFL history who have coached 50 or more games.
After he got fired, Schwartz served as the Bills’ defensive coordinator in 2014, but when Bills head coach Doug Marrone and his staff were fired after the season, Schwartz spent a year out of football before joining Doug Pederson on his first Eagles coaching staff.
Asked about his years in Detroit and how they helped shape him as a coach, Schwartz was typically philosophical.
“Let me put it this way,” he said. “It doesn't end well for head coaches in the NFL, no matter how much you want it to. As much success as Andy Reid had here, it didn't end well for him. You could probably roll up just about any coach that's ever coached in the league. It didn't end well for Tony Dungy at Tampa, but it ended well for him at Indy. It didn't end well for [Bill] Belichick at Cleveland, didn't end well for Pete Carroll at the Jets or the Patriots.
“I think when we're in it, we all expect to be that person that's just somewhere for 25 years or whatever, and I think we just realize that it doesn't always work out that way. I think probably the biggest thing is just having a chance to take a step back from it. It lets you maybe realize what's important, what the most important things are.
“I'm a small-stuff sweating guy. Every detail is important to me, and I'm going to treat it that way. There's an intensity to that that I think is important, but I think you — sometimes as a coach, and I'm not speaking just for myself but probably a lot of other people, you don't enjoy yourself when you're in the moment, and I think I probably enjoy myself in the moment a little bit more now after that experience.
“I think it's a lesson you can only learn if you're in it.”
Schwartz said this weekend’s trip to Detroit won’t have any deep meaning, especially since he's already been there twice since leaving the Lions.
The Bills beat the Lions at Ford Field in 2013 and they also beat the Jets there in a neutral-site game at Ford Field after seven feet of snow fell in the Buffalo area.
Schwartz said despite getting fired, he only has fond memories of the city and the franchise.
“I visit there a lot of times in the offseason,” he said. “I don't have very many friends, but my wife has a lot of friends. I've certainly enjoyed my time there, and it'll be part of our family's life, not just my life, it'll be part of our family's life.
“You look back, and I think you take a couple years and you can appreciate the good times maybe a little bit more than when you're in the middle of things.”
If the Eagles keep winning and Schwartz’s defense keeps playing the way it has been, Schwartz will once again become a hot coaching candidate.
Asked if he’s interested in becoming a head coach again, Schwartz ducked the question.
But you can guess the answer.
“Yeah, I'm just trying to stay off the hot seat,” he said. “Everybody talks about the hot seat this time of year. I'm just trying to keep my ass off the hot seat.
“I think in anything, if you do a good job, if you're a quality control coach, you do a good job with that, maybe you get a chance to be a position coach, maybe you get a chance to be a coordinator if you do a good job with that. The way this league is.
“You don't have time to think about a whole lot other than doing your job. I'm trying to do my job. I'm trying to put our defense in position to help us win games, and if I can do a good job of that, then I'll be happy.”
