The Jim Schwartz Era is Over

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By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
December 31, 2013

For months now, I have been reporting on this website that Jim Schwartz’s days in Detroit were numbered, barring some totally unprecedented deep playoff run that was never going to occur.

Back in June, the DSR posted a story about the friction between the front office and Schwartz, which included leaking out embarrassing information about the Lions head coach.

Then in November, I doubled down on my opinion that Schwartz was a Dead Man Walking in Custom-Tailored Khakis.

Going into the weekend, I was pretty confident that my “reporting” was accurate and then ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter released this dagger on Sunday:

The above Tweet completely shattered my confidence that Schwartz was a goner. First of all, nobody is more tuned into the NFL than Schefter. Secondly, betting on the Ford Family to do the right thing is almost always a losing proposition. And lastly, while I have nailed some big stories, I also am responsible for Garrison Hearst to the Lions, Miguel Tejada to the Tigers and the Pistons being purchased by David Katzman and the Ilitch Family.

So, when I discovered that Schwartz’s dismissal might not be a slam-dunk, I went Jeff Moss on Twitter. I asked my followers to send me any dirt on the Fords or Lions management and if Schwartz wasn’t fired on Monday, I would start leaking the damaging info.

I came up with the idea of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money in order to hire a private investigator to follow Junior and his sisters around to make their lives miserable. I even suggested a boycott of the Metro Detroit Ford Dealers, complete with picketing and chanting. I am fairly confident that I could have found at least 30 disgruntled fans who received their playoff tickets the day after the Lions were eliminated from postseason consideration to march outside of Avis Ford and Varsity Lincoln.

Even for me, I was acting fucking nuts.

I set a 2 pm deadline for the Lions to fire Schwartz or I was going to open the vault and start spewing out vitriol at an unprecedented rate. And then as the morning was about to end, Schefter ended the speculation on Twitter with three simple words ….

Coincidentally, the official press conference announcing the axing was scheduled for 2 pm, which meant the dancing on Schwartz’s grave only lasted two hours before the grim reality of who is still in charge of this Hindenburg of a pigskin organization was reinforced.

Sitting at the podium in front of a Belle Tire banner were the cockroaches of Allen Park — the team’s President Tom Lewand and General Manager Martin Mayhew.

Lewand has now been with this organization for 19 years. He was there when Barry Sanders faxed in his retirement and fled to Great Britain. He was employed with the team during the entire Matt Millen Holocaust. He got a PROMOTION when the franchise endured the first 0-16 season in league history. And now Lewand has survived again while another head coach gets shitcanned.

And if you think Lewand is just some empty suit or a lawyer without any football-related duties, you didn’t watch him commandeer this press conference. Or you haven’t read his bio on the Lions official website, which states Lewand “guides the overall direction of the franchise.”

Yeah, that’s something I would want on my resume. Right next to captain of the Exxon Valdez or senior partner at Stratton Oakmont.

I mean, you had the General Manager of this football team at the podium and Lewand was the one running the show. Announcing the coach’s axing and then answering the first few questions posed. It wasn’t until a reporter DIRECTLY addressed Mayhew that Lewand ceded control.

Of course, Lewand isn’t just any attorney. He is the son of William Clay Ford, Sr.’s most trusted barrister. And Lewand has moved up the ranks over the last three decades to the point that it’s like he is an honorary member of the Ford Family.

Why would Bill Ford, Jr. lower himself to attend this press conference? He doesn’t want to answer these pesky questions. Especially how it could be possible that this organization has only won ONE playoff game in 56 seasons.

It is utterly disgusting that Ford, Jr. didn’t attend this farce. I am guessing that he will be in attendance when the new sacrificial lamb is introduced though, since that will be a coronation and not a funeral.

So instead of manning up and facing the heat, Junior sent his consigliere “half-brother” Tom Hagen …. errrrr ….Tom Lewand to do his dirty work.

The same Tom Lewand who handed Jim Schwartz a three-year extension worth $18 million after the Lions made the postseason in 2011, which insured that Schwartz made MORE MONEY than Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Tomlin!!!!!

And it was this atrocious extension that probably cost the Lions a postseason berth this year. Don’t believe the bullshit you heard on Monday in Allen Park. Mayhew wanted Schwartz gone after last year. Where there is smoke there is fire and there was a goddamn FOREST FIRE emanating out of 222 Republic Drive over the last few months.

But Junior wasn’t about to sign off on an $18 million buyout for Schwartz even though Mayhew was sick of Schwartz’s meddling in personnel decisions and felt that Schwartz had basically quit coaching over the last month of 2012.

I mean, how much more evidence do you need in order to confirm that there was a huge disconnect between the front office and the head coach? Mike Florio reported it. Ed Werder claimed that Mayhew wanted Schwartz ousted after 2012. Management was leaking shit to ME about Schwartz.

Yeah, but Moss, Mayhew claimed all of that speculation was bullshit without the media even asking him about it. Mayhew volunteered this information without being prodded.

Well, if you got PROMOTED by Junior and Senior after being part of a management that went 0-16, you’d probably say just about anything to protect them at a press conference.

And while I have been fairly agnostic about Mayhew’s future with team, how Lewand is still employed and playing the roll of Geppetto behind the scenes is a story that could only occur with the Lions.

We all know the story of Lewand’s DUI arrest back in 2010. The Team President registered blew a .21 that summer, and that was AFTER stalling the police for what seemed like an eternity. If Lewand hadn’t come up with his “breath mints” story, claimed that he was actually a designated driver and then referenced his Chicago cop brother-in-law, he probably would have been three times the legal limit.

Roger Goodell fined Lewand $100,000 for that transgression and suspended him for 30 days. And while some organizations would have fired Lewand over his embarrassing actions, the Fords compassionately let him keep his job. This wasn’t surprising, as Old Man Ford has had his share of issues with the bottle as well.

It would appear that that wasn’t the end of Lewand’s issues with alcohol though. According to multiple sources, Lewand allegedly fell off the wagon last year and spent part of December in a rehab facility. Well, at least Lewand didn’t have to watch his team go winless during the last month of 2012 — unless Betty Ford or Passages Malibu or wherever he was drying out had NFL Sunday Ticket.

So, imagine that you are Lewand for a second. You were promoted to your current position after playing a part in the worst season in league history, and when you Google “Tom Lewand” the image on the right side of the page is your mug shot.

Yeah, you would probably cover for the Ford Family as well, going as far as to refuse to answer which Ford is calling the shots, even though it is painfully obvious that Junior is in control. And you’d probably spew a bunch of garbage about superiors caring deeply about their fan base, even though we have six decades of evidence confirming that they do not.

And this is the man who is going to have a crucial role in hiring the next coach of the Lions? Color me confident.

I cannot believe I actually allowed myself to become giddy over Schwartz’s departure. My hatred for the Lions’ arrogant prick of a coach had diminished my capacity to think clearly about this perennial disappointment of a franchise.

But the minute that Schefter Tweeted out that Schwartz had been terminated, I came to my senses and realized that this is still the Lions. The Ford Family is still in control of this team’s destiny and nothing will ever change.

A lot of my followers have asked me whom I would like to see as the next coach or whom I thought would eventually replace Schwartz.

I honestly have no clue. I do know this though. We will probably be revisiting this same issue in 2018 with Tom Lewand solemnly explaining that a “culture change” is needed at Ford Field as Ken Whisenhunt, Lovie Smith or Mike Zimmer is exiting stage left.

There is only one culture change that will ever make a difference with the Lions, and that could only come if, when Fredo Clay Ford, Sr. dies, Junior’s sisters decide they want to maximize their inheritance and force their brother to sell the team. And that is an extreme long shot at best — which also describes the likelihood of this team ever getting to a Super Bowl while we aren’t wearing Depends and drooling tapioca pudding.

Rinse.
Wash.
Repeat.

Same as it ever was.

[Come back to the DSR tomorrow for more fallout from Black Monday. I have some pretty good gossip about Scott Linehan, Matthew Stafford and Ndamukong Suh.]