The first couple of weeks of the offseason is prime coaching carousel time around the NFL. While the Detroit Lions have yet to make any additions or subtractions from their own coaching staff (not yet, anyway!), some former Lions coaches are spinning on and off the coaching carousel.
Former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz has been hired as the new defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns. Schwartz takes over in Cleveland for the fired Joe Woods. He was the Lions head coach from 2009-2013 and has spent time as the DC in Buffalo and Philadelphia since leaving Detroit.
On the other side of the carousel, the Los Angeles Chargers have ended the ride for offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi after the team’s playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Lombardi was the Lions’ offensive coordinator in 2014 and part of 2015 before being fired for making an offense featuring Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, Reggie Bush and Theo Riddick unimaginably boring.
Schwartz’s successor as Detroit’s head coach, Jim Caldwell, has yet to land a new coaching home. Caldwell has interviewed for the head coaching positions in Carolina and Houston already.
