In good hands

It didn't take long for Jim Schwartz to feel comfortable again in Cleveland. A matter of seconds, in fact, as he sat down at the news conference the other day that formally announced his appointment as the Browns' brand new defensive coordinator.

As he leaned toward the microphone after head coach Kevin Stefanski briefly introduced him to the assembled Cleveland media and then wisely got out of the way, Schwartz acknowledged a plaque on the back wall of the media room, launching an often-nostalgic 35-minute session.

He apologized starting off on a personal note -- although he didn't have to -- when he spoke of 
Dino Lucarelli, the now-retired long-time public relations whiz who worked over the years for the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League and Cleveland Indians, and the Browns for more than 30 years. Everyone was seated in the Dino Lucarelli Media Center. 

Lucarelli, now in his late 80s, befriended him and Schwartz went out of his way to share that. You could tell the return to his National Football League roots meant more than just another job in his 30-year career. It was the perfect way to begin the news conference. It seemed like a special moment for him.

It was easily one of the best such events I've witnessed by anyone in any sport in a long time, and I've seen numerous in my lengthy career. Made no difference that it was online. It was though I was there in person in the room. It just felt special.  

Schwartz, 56, is a veteran of news conferences, having served as a head coach (in Detroit) and an assistant coach in a variety of roles. He knows his way around media rooms. 

You could tell he was comfortable. Arms folded. Relaxed. Very anecdotal. Answered all questions fully with no reading between the lines -- except for one that will be addressed shortly -- when the topic was football.  Said all the right things, although I quarreled silently when he spoke of the ownership group.

Smiled, though, when he spoke about how much much better the pass rush will be this season. "We run a very D-line-friendly scheme," he said. ". . . We sort of let those guys go and be disruptive." My initial thought: He'll find out soon enough this is Cleveland, where fans are normally suspicious of talk like that because it rarely comes to fruition.

An answer to one of the dozen questions he handled particularly caught my attention. About halfway through the session, he was asked about building his staff on the defensive side of the football. He demurred and pivoted.

He said the staff was Stefanski's and would follow the dictates of the head coach and Andrew Berry, with whom he worked a few years ago when the Cleveland general manager worked a year in Philadelphia's front office, and he was the defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Eagles.

Wait a minute. The Browns are bringing in Schwartz to change the culture of the defense and then ignoring him with regard to reconstructing that side of the ball? That sounds almost too deferential to the head man. I don't believe that for a nanosecond.

If that's the case, however, and Schwartz is basically ceding the look of the defense this season, the Browns are heading down the wrong road again. If the new coordinator is going to successful, Stefanski has to take one giant step back and concentrate even more on the offense. 

I think Schwartz, one way or the other, will get everything and everyone he needs to turn this thing around. The guess here is the defense that reports to training camp this summer in no way will resemble the group that departed just a few weeks ago following the season finale in Pittsburgh.

Trusting Joe Woods with the defense for three seasons produced disastrous results. With a savvy veteran like Schwartz now in charge, year four under Stefanski already has a gleam of hope.