The Browns have made the first hire in this season’s coordinator cycle. Cleveland is set to add Jim Schwartz as their new defensive coordinator, reports ESPN’s Dianna Russini (Twitter link).
Schwartz, 56, was quickly named as a candidate for the position. The veteran coach brings significant experience to the role, having spent a total of 14 years as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. His most recent tenure under that title came with the Eagles from 2016-20. Given his time there, he brings Super Bowl pedigree to a Browns team searching for consistency on their coaching staff. 
Joe Woods was thought to be on the hot seat as Cleveland’s DC during the season, after his unit failed to live up to expectations. Performances improved later in the campaign, but it still came as little surprise when he was fired last week. That kicked off the team’s search for his successor, which included Sean Desai, Dennard Wilson, and Brian Flores being considered in addition to Schwartz. Patriots LBs coach Jerod Mayo declined to meet with the Browns for the position, but Cleveland will still land a highly-regarded staffer as a result of this hire.
Prior to his time with the Eagles, Schwartz had a five-year tenure as head coach of the Lions. Aside from a 10-6 campaign in 2011, Detroit posted a losing record in each of his seasons at the helm. That obviously hurt his chances of landing another HC post in the future, but his Philadelphia success (which began after a single season in Buffalo) rebuilt his stock with respect to his abilities as a coordinator. Schwartz also had an eight-year stint as the Titans’ DC from 2001-08.
It was with the Browns that Schwartz began his time in the NFL. In 1993, Cleveland hired him as a personnel scout, a role he remained in for three seasons. He stayed with the franchise for another three years after it moved to Baltimore, though his time with the Ravens consisted of work as a defensive assistant. That launched his career as a staffer on that side of the ball, and has led to plenty of success which his original employer will now hope he can replicate.
The Browns put up underwhelming numbers in most defensive categories in 2022, with their secondary standing out as a notable exception. The team’s front seven is likely to be a focal point in the offseason, after surrendering an average of 135 yards per game on the ground and recording only 34 sacks. A plethora of injuries at the middle linebacker position in particular contributed in part to those figures, but a new voice on the sidelines will likely be a welcomed sight.
With such an experienced DC coming onboard, head coach Kevin Stefanski will have a veteran staffer to lean on as the team looks to clean up issues such as discipline which were a talking point in the season. This hire could further point to Stefanski retaining offensive play-calling duties, something which has been called into question with calls for him to take on a more general role overseeing team as a whole. His staff now has a veteran voice on hand to steer the team towards a rebound in 2023.
Well, Schwartz is what Cleveland needed. He brings a lot of experience, has overseen some good defenses, and has a reputation for getting the most out of his defensive line.
This will entail a significant shift in the Browns’ defensive philosophy, however. Schwartz has traditionally been a strong 4-3 base type of coach, and in the past has run a lot of zone. The Browns are weak at defensive tackle in particular, and look to be losing their other bookend in Clowney. Schwartz is going to demand a lot from his interior linemen, and his history shows that those may be the most important players to him (Suh, Fairly, Cox, Dareus, even Haynesworth). I’d expected the Browns to invest in defensive linemen this upcoming year as is, but this hire lends even more credence to that belief.
Agree with you on all points. Not a Browns fan at all, but a good hire that will bring a certain mentality to that defense. It will require the Browns to invest in players, however.
They were going to need significant interior defensive line help no matter what.
While there may be some credence to the thought that Joe Woods’ defense was too complicated for the defense or that he was responsible for not ensuring better communication within the ranks, a large part in the Browns’ disappointing performance on defense this season is directly related to the underachieving activity of the defensive line, particularly the tackles. As much as many fans like to blame Woods for the disappointing defense, unless the Browns make significant changes on the line, particularly at tackle, no defensive coordinator, whether it be Jim Schwartz or Joe Woods or Brian Flores or Jerrod Mayo will be able to improve the defense significantly. And once again, choosing to give up so much for Deshaun Watson won’t help to make the necessary changes on defense, or on offense, either.
I agree with all points. As I said, I think we all expected Cleveland to invest in interior linemen anyway. Schwartz is going to push even harder for quality investment, I think, than before. Conversely, perhaps Cleveland hired Schwartz due to the expectation that they would invest very significantly in that spot. Clowney’s impending departure also leaves the Browns with a pressing need at end as well.
The question now will be what becomes of Takitaki, who rushes the passer quite a bit, in addition to other duties. Does he stay to transition to a new role in a Schwartz defense? Or does Cleveland let him walk?
Makes complete sense. Losing season after losing season as the Lions HC. He leaves, and they turn it around. The perfect resume to be hired by the Browns. Congrats.
Maybe it would make more sense to judge him by his much longer resume in the position for which he was just hired?
It may. Time will tell. The Browns coaching staff hires haven’t usually been stellar.
The Browns are regularly dysfunctional. That doesn’t make your point reasonable. The Browns have a talented defense that constantly looked out of sorts last year. They hired Jim Schwartz to replace their defensive coordinator. He’s consistently run defenses well during his 14 seasons as a defensive coordinator. That’s more relevant here than his much shorter track record in a different job he did less recently.
I think it’s a stretch to say they turned it around after he was fired. He’s been gone from that post for years and they still haven’t won a division title in 30 seasons.
Well said. Just because the Lions most recent season ended with a winning record, for the first time in years after MANY seasons with significant losing records, doesn’t mean they were able to “turn it around” as soon as Jim Schwartz left, as alwaysgo4two implied. This snide attempt to bag on the Browns missed the mark badly.
I can only go on the past most recent record. Like I said, this hire may be the exception, but the track record is not good for the Browns hires. Snide? I didn’t insult them, they do that very well themselves without any of my help.
Who has been successful with the Lions? That is a short list.
He’s not going to be a HC though. He excelled as a DC in basically every stop he’s been.
Great hire, and I’m a not-trolling Steelers fan. He’s a great defensive mind and well-respected.
It’s gonna sound cliche, but Schwartz “checks all the boxes”. He’s got a ton of experience and he can usually get the best out of his players, and it also helps that he has head coaching experience because the majority of their staff doesn’t; I’m not making excuses for Stefanski, but he hasn’t really had any experienced assistants (other than Callahan) to guide him.
The secondary is actually in decent shape, especially if Ward rebounds. If he doesn’t, Emerson and Newsome are still a pretty good group. JJIII and Delpit have been a little disappointing but I wouldn’t say safety is a weakness either.
The front seven needs A TON of help though, and hiring Schwartz would seem to indicate that’s something they’ll focus on this offseason. I’m optimistically hoping for a breakout year from Perrion Winfrey, because he has the talent to be a hell of a player even if he showed some immaturity last year. Schwartz has coached up some pretty good interior linemen in the past and Winfrey has by far the most pure talent of anyone they have on the roster.
The front needs more talent. The secondary just looked badly coached last year.
Yeah there’s way too much talent in that secondary to have given up as many close plays as they did, which I blame coaching for. You can never have enough corners, but I think there’s a lot of talent back there to build around.
Hope nobody shakes his hand too aggressively
Not sure Schwartz has the right demeanor to work in Cleveland – as the inmates run the asylum there.
There’s a reason Schwartz is now with a fifth team. He’s a solid defensive coach but rather egotistical and can be abrasive with co-workers. It’s a toss up whether he will solve the Browns problems or just add to them.
How is a five-team resume over 23 seasons an indication of a problematic personality? He had a very long coordinator tenure in Tennessee that only ended when he took a head coaching job. He had a long tenure in Philly that ended when he stepped away. He had a very short tenure in Buffalo that ended because the head coach he was working under quit.
It’s 19 seasons of coaching according to Pro Football Reference. Maybe Schwartz will mellow some with age and have a long tenure in Cleveland but considering the turmoil that always surrounds that organization, I wouldn’t bank on it.
I don’t know which years you’re not counting, but his Wikipedia page would fill in some gaps from football reference. The latter only includes coordinator or higher, I believe.
He made his name in TN and was there 10 seasons (8 as DC) then got HC job at DET which he failed out. Was Bills DC for a year but directions changed with that team. Then Philly which resulted in a SB. He was basically done when Pederson got fired. He was successful in every stop as a DC. He would probably still be in Philly if Pederson was still the HC.
Schwartz’s Bills defense was probably the best traditional 4-3 zone I remember seeing in the 2000s. That line, with Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, and Marcell Dareus, was crushing. That just a suffocating defense. Schwartz’s Lions defenses were magnificent, but that Bills defense was a thing of beauty to watch.
as a former lions fan, I say good luck with Jim Shorts.