It’s no secret that Jim Schwartz felt spurned by Cleveland when he was passed over to be the new head coach of the Browns. Though it’s somewhat understandable, it’s pretty safe to say that he didn’t handle it in the most professional way, apparently going around and saying his goodbyes to the rest of the coaching staff right after the news.
It’s also no secret that Todd Monken wasn’t a fan of Schwartz’s actions, as he didn’t really feel the need to contact him when he was officially hired. Monken waited three full days before getting a hold of Schwartz to express that he’d like to retain him on his staff.
Yes, Schwartz was an excellent defensive coordinator for Cleveland from a schematic standpoint, but he wasn’t a tremendous head coaching candidate by any means. The fact that he actually took his ball and went home due to what happened is kind of wild.
It’s one thing to threaten to leave in order to try and strong-arm the organization into doing something, but to actually do it because he didn’t get his way is ridiculous. Despite what people outside the organization are saying when it comes to the ramifications of Schwartz leaving, the Browns’ defense is going to be just fine without him.
The amount of talent that the team has on that side of the ball is otherworldly. In fact, it’s somewhat concerning that Schwartz didn’t do more with the talent over the past couple of seasons, especially on the back end of the defense. His overall defensive outputs have finished closer to average than good as of late, and Cleveland has had one of the worst road defenses in the league for the past season and a half.