New Lions head coach Jim Schwartz has worked his way up the ranks from being a graduate assistant at the University of Maryland to now taking the reins of an NFL team. It took him two decades to do so, as he started at Maryland in 1989 as a graduate assistant. From there, he moved on to Minnesota, NC Central, and Colgate before breaking into the NFL world, where he worked for Bill Belichick in Cleveland. When the Browns moved to Baltimore, Schwartz went with the team and gained more coaching duties, eventually leading to him getting a job with the Titans. After only a couple seasons he was promoted to defensive coordinator, which is the job he held until yesterday. Here is a full look at his coaching career:
| Years | Team | Job |
| 1989-1990 | Maryland | Graduate Assistant (Linebackers) |
| 1990-1991 | Minnesota | Graduate Assistant |
| 1991-1992 | NC Central | Secondary Coach |
| 1992 | Colgate | Linebackers Coach |
| 1993-1995 | Cleveland Browns | Personnel (College/Pro Scout)/Film & Scouting Reports |
| 1996-1998 | Baltimore Ravens | Outside Linebackers Coach/Quality Control Coach |
| 1999-2000 | Tennessee Titans | Linebackers Coach/3rd Down Package Coordinator |
| 2001-2008 | Tennessee Titans | Defensive Coordinator |
| 2009-present | Detroit Lions | Head Coach |
Prior to his coaching days, Schwartz was a linebacker at Georgetown University for four years. He got a degree in economics and received many academic honors while at Georgetown. That helps explain why he is so into numbers and uses statistics so much. He takes a different approach to the game of football in that sense, and the New York Times profiled his statistical analysis back in November. That article is definitely worth reading.
Outside of football, Schwartz is "an avid chess player." In the NYT article he actually said something interesting where he made a comparison between football and chess.
“People talk about the chess match between coaches and coordinators,” Schwartz said. “Anybody who plays chess knows your rook never falls down, your rook never stops one spot short. There’s human nature to football that will never make it into a game of numbers.”
Schwartz and his wife, Kathy, have three children -- a pair of twins that are 7 years old and a 5-year old daughter. Schwartz is 42 years old and is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Currently he and his family live in Brentwood, Tennessee, but that is obviously going to change now that he is the head coach of the Detroit Lions.