Jim Schwartz has an interesting new job

Jim Schwartz had a, well, interesting relationship with officials when he was head coach of the Detroit Lions. In addition to once yelling at them to "learn the f***ing rules," Schwartz famously tried to challenge an automatically reviewable play on Thanksgiving in 2012. The latter incident led to a rule being changed and unofficially named after him.

Fast forward to now and Schwartz's relationship with the NFL's officials is suddenly much, much different. I say that because Schwartz has been hired to be a consultant for the NFL's officiating department, according to FOX Sports' Alex Marvez. With Schwartz not coaching anywhere this year after being let go as defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, it looked like he was just going to sit 2015 out from a job standpoint, but that is not the case:

FOX Sports has learned that Schwartz will be serving as a consultant to the league's officiating department for the 2015 season. Schwartz's main role is to help provide a coach's perspective with some of the decisions made by the officiating office, a source told FOX Sports.

Schwartz certainly seems well qualified for this role. I mean, a rule was changed because of his actions, and he was the coach for the game that spawned the "Calvin Johnson Rule." What's more, his Lions teams developed a reputation for being undisciplined, and part of that seemingly came from how he acted toward officials on the sideline. I'm sure he has a lot of specific instances in mind for this consultant gig.

I would imagine that we will see Schwartz return to a coaching role of some kind in 2016, but his perspective on things could actually be quite valuable for officials in the meantime. Granted, I can't imagine his role as a consultant will actually lead to any major changes with how officials operate, but having a coach's view on things going forward certainly can't hurt.