Allen Park Layoffs? You kidding me? Layoffs?
OK, so it wasn't exactly a Jim Mora-esque rant. But it did elicit some hearty laughter Friday when Lions coach Jim Schwartz was asked about the recent "layoffs" in the NFL coaching fraternity.
"I didn't know we could get laid off," he chuckled. "We get laid off and then called back? Get a couple of us laid off and then when production goes up, we'll get called back?"
Actually, no, that's not how it works, as Schwartz well knows.
But while he had little interest in talking about job security — or insecurity — in his chosen profession, especially not with his team in the playoff hunt for the first time in what seems like forever, Schwartz knows it's no joke, either.
This week, two NFL coaches — Miami's Tony Sparano and Kansas City's Todd Haley — were fired, bringing the season total to three (Jacksonville's Jack Del Rio) with more pink slips likely on the way the next few weeks.
All Schwartz needs to do is look at his rookie class of 2009, as seven first-time coaches, plus two that had interim tags removed, all broke in together. Of those nine, four have been fired: Mike Singletary (San Francisco), Tom Cable (Oakland), Josh McDaniels (Denver) and Haley. Three could be destined for the same fate at season's end, as Jim Caldwell (Indianapolis), Raheem Morris (Tampa Bay) and Steve Spagnuolo (St. Louis) are on the hot seat.
That leaves just two — Schwartz and Rex Ryan (N.Y. Jets) — that don't appear to be skating on dangerously thin ice.
Not that the Lions coach cared to weigh in with an opinion on that topic after Detroit wrapped up practice and prepared to fly to Oakland on Friday for a critical road game.
"That's not something that's even on my radar," Schwartz said. "The only thing about it is just winning."
Being on the same page
Of course, if it were only about winning, Schwartz, at 16-29 in his tenure, might've already joined the others in the unemployment line.
But for a change, the Lions, whose four previous full-time hires lasted three years or less, entered this marriage with Schwartz with a real plan and a shared vision. And since the team appears to be, as Schwartz likes to say, "trending in the right direction," with an 8-5 record this season and a seemingly bright future, there's also a shared trust that the oft-referenced "plan" is working.
Which is far more than could've been said in Kansas City, for instance, where Haley and the general manager that hired him, Scott Pioli — the same GM so many Lions fans were clamoring for a few years ago — weren't on the same page for long.
Throw in some obvious early warning signs in some cases — from McDaniels' Jay Cutler saga to Singletary's infamous pants-dropping to the fact that Haley and Morris both fired offensive coordinators even before they'd coached a game — and it's easy to see why the divorce rate is so high.
Gunther Cunningham, the Lions veteran defensive coordinator, was quoting the late Bill Walsh on Friday, reminding me coaching is about communication and understanding people, first and last.
"And the only way to learn that is through life's experience," he said. "So you hire a young coach …"
And, well, what do you expect? These days, don't expect much patience, that's for sure.
"It's the American way," said Cunningham, the German-born football lifer who doesn't use that phrase lightly, especially now that he's a naturalized U.S. citizen. "Go to McDonald's, get the instant hamburger. Times have changed. And I've gone through it. There was so much loyalty when I started (in 1982) … But I think it's the whole age, this whole generation and what they want. … I don't like. I've never liked it."
Not when he got fired after going 16-16 in two seasons with the Chiefs right about the time the Lions were making their last playoff trip. And not now, as he watches the dreams of others meet the same end.
"To build a good football team it takes time," Cunningham said, shaking his head. "And I've seen coaches getting fired that I know are really good coaches. The guy in Miami, he's the consummate professional and a tough guy and knows how to do things, and he loses his job. Well, you don't always have the right pieces."
Bosses see 'eye-to-eye'
Schwartz certainly didn't when he took over this reclamation project in Detroit, a job he wasn't going to accept, as he told me prior to his first season, if he and the men who hired him — president Tom Lewand and GM Martin Mayhew — didn't see "eye-to-eye" on the past, present or future.
"Because people have told me one of the biggest ways to have a problem with either the front office and the head coach or the owner and the head coach," Schwartz told me then, "is if their expectation of the talent level is a lot higher than what the head coach's is, or what reality is."
The reality is, Schwartz finally has the talent, starting with a healthy Matthew Stafford. And the expectations are rising accordingly, from the fans and ownership, which is why I asked Schwartz what kind of feedback he's getting from his regular meetings with William Clay Ford Sr.
"I don't want to speak for him, but he's been excited since the beginning of training camp — it hasn't been something that's just come up in the last week or two," Schwartz said, adding all the excitement "puts greater emphasis on taking advantage of the opportunity."
Still, for now, there is no talk about layoffs in Detroit.
Only playoffs.
Lions at Raiders
Kickoff: 4:05 p.m. Sunday,
Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, Calif.
TV/radio: Fox/97.1
Records: Detroit 8-5, Oakland 7-6
Line: Lions by 1
Series: Oakland leads 6-4 (Detroit 36-21, Sept. 9, 2007)
Did you know? There are 20 former Raiders in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (the Lions have 18).
