PRESEASON EditiON - Detroit Lions
PRESEASON EditiON - Detroit Lions
PRESEASON EditiON - Detroit Lions
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exeCutives & CoaChing<br />
<strong>Detroit</strong>lions.com<br />
Media.<strong>Detroit</strong>lions.com<br />
Jim sChWartz<br />
head CoaCh<br />
Year with <strong>Lions</strong>: 4<br />
Years as NFL head Coach: 4<br />
Years in NFL: 19<br />
On January 16, 2009, the day he was named the <strong>Detroit</strong> <strong>Lions</strong><br />
new head coach, Jim Schwartz immediately began implementing a<br />
methodical approach to his job—one he has maintained ever since.<br />
“When you talk about changing culture, when you talk about<br />
improving the team, my mantra has always been and is always going<br />
to be a day-to-day approach,” said Schwartz. “Let’s get better today.<br />
Let’s not worry about what’s going to happen next week or a month<br />
from now. Let’s worry about today. If you take care of today and get<br />
better every day, I believe you will achieve your ultimate goals.”<br />
From player development, to coaching schemes and ultimately to<br />
performance on the field, Schwartz’s day-to-day process, executed<br />
with consistency and determination, has impacted every aspect of<br />
this football team. As a result, few teams in the NFL have improved<br />
as much as the <strong>Lions</strong> have over the past three seasons.<br />
In Schwartz’s third year, he led the <strong>Lions</strong> to 10 regular-season wins<br />
for the first time since 1995 and clinched a playoff spot for the first<br />
time since 1999. He became the eighth coach in the franchise’s 78-<br />
year history to lead <strong>Detroit</strong> to the playoffs. Since 1962, only the 1991<br />
squad won more (12) regular-season games than last year’s <strong>Lions</strong>.<br />
Supporting Schwartz’s methodical approach is the fact the <strong>Lions</strong><br />
have improved their record in each of Schwartz’s three seasons,<br />
including four-win improvements in each of the past two seasons.<br />
In fact, Schwartz last season became the first <strong>Lions</strong> head coach<br />
since Buddy Parker (1951-53) to improve the team’s record in each<br />
of his first three seasons as head coach.<br />
Schwartz, 46, provides a unique blend of coaching and player<br />
personnel experience to the <strong>Lions</strong> head coaching position. Having<br />
spent the past 19 seasons in the NFL—16 years as a coach and<br />
three in player personnel— Schwartz worked his way up from an<br />
entry-level football operations position with the Cleveland Browns<br />
in 1993 to being named the <strong>Lions</strong> Head Coach on January 16, 2009.<br />
He began his NFL coaching career as a defensive assistant<br />
and quality control coach, progressed to position coach and then<br />
succeeded as a defensive coordinator for nearly a decade despite the<br />
constant nature of change in today’s NFL.<br />
Schwartz, now in his fourth season as the <strong>Lions</strong> head coach, is<br />
transforming the team by seeking talent based on what he commonly<br />
refers to as “multi-dimensional” players. He firmly believes the team’s<br />
ability to adapt in all three phases and to tailor personnel to particular<br />
game strategies produces success.<br />
consistEnt coaching<br />
Critical in the progress made thus far is Schwartz’s insistence on<br />
building stability and consistency, and that starts with his coaching<br />
staff. This consistency impacts the team development and growth due<br />
to the player’s extensive knowledge and familiarity of the schemes.<br />
The 2012 season will mark the first time since 2000 the <strong>Lions</strong><br />
will enter a season for the fourth-straight year with the same head<br />
coach along with defensive and offensive coordinators. Additionally,<br />
it is the third-straight season, a first since 2000, the <strong>Lions</strong> are led<br />
by the same head coach as well as defensive, offensive and special<br />
teams coordinators.<br />
This consistency is nearly unparalleled in the NFL. The <strong>Lions</strong> will<br />
enter the 2012 season as the only team in the NFL led by the same<br />
head coach, defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator for the<br />
fourth-straight season. They are one of only three teams (New York<br />
Giants and Washington Redskins) that will enter the year with the<br />
same head coach and all three coordinators for the third-straight-year.<br />
Schwartz understands the importance of his coordinators.<br />
Following his hiring in 2009, Schwartz targeted two highly-regarded<br />
former head coaches, Gunther Cunningham (assistant head coach/<br />
defensive coordinator) and Scott Linehan (offensive coordinator) to<br />
assist him in <strong>Detroit</strong>. Combined, Cunningham and Linehan have 26<br />
years of experience in the NFL as a coordinator or head coach. Since<br />
Schwartz added them to his coaching staff, each has implemented<br />
philosophies and schemes that not only fit Schwartz’s insistence on<br />
adapting to personnel and strategies, but they also have provided<br />
sound player development. In 2010, Schwartz also added Danny<br />
Crossman, who previously spent five seasons as special team coach<br />
for the Carolina Panthers, to the staff to lead the <strong>Lions</strong>’ special<br />
teams units.<br />
a coMEBack sEason<br />
In many ways, 2011 was “the comeback season” as Schwartz<br />
and the <strong>Lions</strong> repeatedly won games in which they overcame huge<br />
deficits, some in historic fashion. Among the <strong>Lions</strong>’ 10 wins, three were<br />
17+-point comebacks, marking the first time in NFL history a team<br />
won three games after trailing by such a large margin.<br />
Schwartz’s team was also the first in NFL history with four<br />
13+-point comeback wins. In Weeks 3 and 4, the <strong>Lions</strong> defeated the<br />
Minnesota Vikings 26-23 in overtime and the Dallas Cowboys 34-30 to<br />
become the first team in history with consecutive 20+-point comeback<br />
wins. At Dallas, the 20+-point come-from-behind win tied an NFL<br />
record for the largest comeback by a road team.<br />
In fact, the two 20-point comebacks are two of the four biggest<br />
regular season comeback wins in team history.<br />
The comeback wins were capped off in Week 15 when the <strong>Lions</strong><br />
improved their playoff hopes by completing a comeback at Oakland<br />
after trailing 27-14 with 7:47 left to play in the fourth quarter.<br />
While the comebacks provided the drama, the highlight of the<br />
season undoubtedly was the <strong>Lions</strong> return to the playoffs for the<br />
first time since 1999.<br />
The 2011 <strong>Lions</strong> also produced some of the largest individual game<br />
and season point totals in team history.<br />
For only the second time in team history and first since 1952, the<br />
<strong>Lions</strong> scored at least 45 points in three different games. In Week 2, the<br />
48-3 win over Kansas City was the largest margin of victory in team<br />
history. The team’s 45 points in a Week 8 win at Denver tied for the<br />
most scored by a <strong>Lions</strong> team on the road in franchise history. With a<br />
49-point outing that produced a victory over the Carolina Panthers<br />
in Week 11, the <strong>Lions</strong> scored seven offensive touchdowns in a game<br />
for only the second time in team history.<br />
Though 2011 may be remembered for the comebacks, Schwartz’s<br />
<strong>Lions</strong> also started the season with five consecutive wins, marking<br />
the team’s first 5-0 start since 1956 and only the third 5-0 start in<br />
franchise history (also in 1934).<br />
The five wins to start 2011 combined with four wins to end 2010<br />
gave the <strong>Lions</strong> a nine-game regular-season win streak, the longest<br />
by the team since 1953-54.<br />
In the record books, Schwartz’s team set a franchise record for<br />
points scored (474), total touchdowns (57), total yards (6,337) and<br />
net passing yards (4,914). The seven fumble and interceptions return<br />
touchdowns scored tied a franchise record set back in 1937.<br />
Under Schwartz’s guidance, no player represented the comeback<br />
more in 2011 than QB Matthew Stafford, who became the first <strong>Lions</strong><br />
player named the AP Comeback Player of the Year. Injuries forced him<br />
off the field for most of 2010, but Stafford completed the most-historic<br />
passing year in team history and one of the finer ones in NFL history.<br />
He set team records in completions (421), completion percentage<br />
(63.5), passing yards (5,038), touchdowns (41), passer rating (97.2),<br />
attempts (663) and 300-yard passing games (8). Among all-time NFL<br />
leaders, his 2011 totals are third in attempts, fifth in completions,<br />
fifth in passing yards and tied for seventh in passing touchdowns.<br />
Last year, WR Calvin Johnson was named All-Pro, and was<br />
selected as a starter in the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive year.<br />
Johnson set a new franchise record with 16 receiving touchdowns and<br />
had the second-most receiving yards (1,681) in team history. Johnson<br />
caught two touchdowns in each of the first four games and became<br />
the first player in NFL history to accomplish that feat.<br />
Offensive records were also set by third-year TE Brandon<br />
Pettigrew who set team single-season records by a tight end in<br />
receptions (83) and receiving yards (777).<br />
The team’s defense continued to improve and become the<br />
aggressive defense Schwartz envisions. The unit finished third in<br />
the NFL in takeaways (34), first in fumble and interception return<br />
touchdowns (7), fourth in forced fumbles (17), third in opponent<br />
fumble recoveries (13) and fifth in interceptions (21). The <strong>Lions</strong> five<br />
interception return touchdowns were also a League-high in 2011.