REPORT: SCHWARTZ TO COACH LIONS

Chris Mortensen and Michael Smith of ESPN are reporting that Jim Schwartz and the Lions have agreed in principle to a deal that will make Schwartz the next head coach of the Lions. Per the ESPN duo, it will be a four year deal.

Schwartz’s hiring means that the Titans are looking for a new defensive coordinator. It won’t be former coordinator Gregg Williams. Williams, who had the job for four years before leaving to become head coach of the Bills in 2001, joined the New Orleans Saints staff earlier on Thursday.

Schwartz inherits the NFL’s first-ever 0-16 team which, by his own modest admission, has “some holes” on their roster. One of his first duties will be to find a starting quarterback, something the team’s been looking for, per Schwartz, since Bobby Layne was sent packing.

Those quotes are both from an entertaining Monday press conference that may have served as a trial balloon for how Schwartz would handle taking over a team mired in the muck. He did it with good humor, something that may be tested in the years to come.