Let’s face it, the best thing about the Browns’ hiring of Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator is that he is not Joe Woods. No doubt, fans had to be tired of the excuses and lack of communication on that side of the ball.
Another positive is the experience factor. It seems the most heralded assistant coach Kevin Stefanski has is offensive line coach Bill Callahan, a former college and pro head coach who has been around a long time. His unit is arguably the strongest on the team.
Why not add another veteran of the coaching wars. Schwartz got his start right here on the heralded Bill Belicheck Browns’ staff which also featured Nick Saban, Eric Mangini, Kirk Ferentz, and Woody Widenhofer. He’s been around the NFL for a long time.
We are not going to judge the hire now, nor are we going to predict how Schwartz is going to coach the defense. Our hope is he will do what good coaches do, that is, look at the personnel he has and develop a plan that maximizes the talent of the players.
In a radio interview, former Titans’ safety Blaine Bishop said Schwartz reinvents himself wherever he goes because he looks at the talent on the roster and adjusts his scheme to suit the strengths of the players. We certainly hope that trend continues.
However, in 14 years as defensive coordinator with Tennessee (2001-08), Buffalo (2014), and Philadelphia (2016-20), his defenses have finished in the top half of the league eight times, and six of those seasons ranked in the top ten in yards allowed.
In points allowed Schwartz’ defense finished in the top 16 nine times, four of those in the top ten.
He seems to put an emphasis on stopping the run, finishing in the top ten eight times in allowing rushing yards. That should be a relief to Cleveland football fans who watched opposing teams punish the Browns’ defense running the ball. The Browns probably would have been worse than 7-10 had some teams not forgotten the brown and orange couldn’t contain the running game.
We understand there will be an adjustment to a new coordinator next year, so it is unlikely the defense will be dominant to start the season, but really, is that any different from the last two seasons? In each of those years, Woods’ defense was below average in the first eight games.
We also get there will be some personnel changes too. But those would have been made anyway because it is doubtful the Browns would be able to effectively stop the ground game with the current roster. However, this team still has some top end players in Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Greg Newsome, and rookie Martin Emerson.
Our guess is Schwartz will look at those cornerbacks and will play more man-to-man than his predecessor, and we fully support that. He will also likely look at the defensive front and ask for help so the defense can be stouter against the run.
You know how we feel about that. You can’t win in the NFL unless you can stop the run.
Bringing in a veteran coach with a track record of success most likely isn’t a bad thing. The defense was the reason the Browns went 7-10 this season, not playcalling or lack of yelling by the head coach.
That’s why we should all be happy about the hire.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 