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Looking back at Jim Schwartz’s time as Lions head coach before his return to Detroit

Originally posted on Side Lion Report | By Bo Underwood | Last updated Sep 27, 2025 10:00 AM ET

A familiar face will be roaming the opposing sideline on Sunday when the Cleveland Browns travel to Detroit to play the Lions.

Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will be back in the Motor City after five seasons as the Lions’ head coach from 2009-13, where he went 29-51.

After eight seasons running the defense for the Tennessee Titans, Schwartz took the reins in 2009 the same year the Lions drafted quarterback Matthew Stafford first overall. He had been a hot coaching candidate for years and made his name on designing creative blitzes that got pressure fast.

But the results on the field for the pair’s first two years were pretty in line with the rest of the Lions’ recent history at that point.

Stafford struggled with injuries to start his career and missed 19 games from 2009 to 2010, as Detroit sputtered to a combined 8-24 record in Schwartz’s first two seasons.

But with Stafford fully healthy in 2011, things turned around. Stafford became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season and the Lions finished 10-6, good enough for a wild card berth and Detroit’s first playoff appearance since 1999. But the fun didn’t last, as Detroit ran into a juggernaut New Orleans Saints team and lost 45-28.

Schwartz was known for his temper in Detroit. 2011 saw arguably his most infamous moment as Lions head coach, when he got into a heated confrontation with then-San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh in their postgame handshake following a 25-19 loss in Week 6.

Who remembers Jim Schwartz vs Jim Harbaugh? pic.twitter.com/fkAHbB5xt6
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) July 21, 2025

Harbaugh later took the blame for the incident years later, saying he “went in too hard, too aggressive on that handshake”.

That Detroit team is also notable for allowing 480 passing yards and six touchdowns to Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn in Week 17 after Green Bay rested its starters having already clinched the NFC’s top seed.

That poor defense would continue in 2012, where Detroit gave up the sixth-most points in the league and the Lions fell to a 4-12 record despite Calvin Johnson breaking the NFL’s single season record for receiving yards.

2013 was Schwartz’s last chance to turn things around in Detroit, and things were looking good at first once Detroit got off to a 6-3 start and led the NFC North. But the team collapsed the rest of the way and went 1-6 down the stretch, missing the playoffs entirely after some poor play from Stafford down the stretch.

Schwartz was fired the day after the regular season, ending his five-year tenure in Detroit. Many were emotional and felt like their poor play cost their coach his job.

"This is a decision I don't like,” defensive end Ezekiel Ansah said at the time. That's where I'll leave it."

"I feel awful for [Schwartz]," center Dominic Raiola said. "I feel like we let him down."

Schwartz making a return to Detroit as Browns clash with Lions in Week 4

Schwartz was hired as the Buffalo Bills’ defensive coordinator the year after and got his revenge in his 2014 return to Ford Field, where Buffalo beat the Lions 17-14.

Schwartz joined the Philadelphia Eagles in the same role in 2016 and helped them win a Super Bowl in 2017.

Schwartz resigned as Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator after 2020, citing health issues. He returned to the Titans as a senior defensive assistant in 2021 before taking the defensive coordinator position in Cleveland in 2023.