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Former Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz has been hired by the Buffalo Bills as their new defensive coordinator. The move was announced on Friday night, and it comes one day after Mike Pettine, the Bills' previous defensive coordinator, was hired to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
After the Lions fired Schwartz a day after completing the 2013 season, there was a lot of speculation that he was going to end up in Cleveland in 2014. The thinking was that he would return to the Browns, which is where his NFL career began, as their defensive coordinator. However, that didn't end up happening, and Schwartz has instead been hired by the Bills.
With Schwartz joining the Bills, he will be returning to Ford Field twice in 2014. The Lions will host the Bills this year in their annual preseason game, and the Lions will also host the Bills in the 2014 regular season (perhaps on Thanksgiving). Those two games just got a lot more interesting with Schwartz being hired by Buffalo.
Schwartz isn't the only ex-Lions coach headed to Buffalo, by the way. The Bills also announced the hiring of former Lions quarterbacks coach Todd Downing on Friday night. He is now Buffalo's quarterbacks coach. Godspeed, E.J. Manuel.
UPDATE: Thanks, Bills!
The #Lions benefit from Jim Schwartz being hired by #Bills. His contract had offsets. So it helps Detroit pay off the $12M it owes him.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 25, 2014
