New defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz making impact on Browns' offseason decisions
INDIANAPOLIS — Kevin Stefanski's office is the one that matters the most among all the coaches within the Browns facility. A lot, though, can be inferred by whose offices sit closest to the head coach's.
Stefanski made it a point from the time he was first hired that offensive line coach Bill Callahan's office was located right next to his own. A similar decision was made in January when he hired Jim Schwartz to be his new defensive coordinator.
"I mean, I'm very, very fortunate to have Jim, a former head coach, to one side of my office," Stefanski said during the NFL Scouting Combine. "(Offensive line coach) Bill Callahan, a former head coach on the other side, out the other door. So I have a lot of very veteran guys that I can lean on."
Schwartz was hired by the Browns on Jan. 17, a little more than a week after they fired former defensive coordinator Joe Woods in the hours after their 7-10 season ended. The long-time NFL defensive coach had spent the previous two years in a senior defensive assistant's role with the Tennessee Titans, as much advisor as coach.
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In returning to where his NFL career began as a Bill Belichick "slappy" in 1993, Schwartz has been both advisor and coach in his short time back. Everyone in the building, all the way up to general manager Andrew Berry, has made it a point to lean on the expertise of the coach who has built elite defenses in Tennessee, Buffalo and Philadelphia, winning a Super Bowl at the latter in 2017.
"We've always been a firm believer as a front office in partnering with our coaching staff, and that has always been the case with Kevin," Berry said this week. "That will always be the case with our coordinators, because at the end of the day we want to make sure that we are able to match personnel strengths, skill sets to the offense, defensive or kicking game philosophy. That'll be no different than with Jim. It certainly does help that, having worked with Jim before and having some level of familiarity, have a pretty good sense of what he wants in different parts of the defense, but that'll be always be the case with our coaching staff."
Schwartz already had a hand in one offseason move. Berry acknowledged the decision to release safety John Johnson III, which is expected to occur on March 15, came with at least a tacit blessing from the new coordinator.
However, where Schwartz's fingerprints could really be present is when it comes to offseason talent acquisition. That could be either through free agency or the draft.
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The Browns brain trust gathered this week in Indianapolis to ramp up the process of evaluating talent to potentially add to the roster when the draft comes around in late April. One of the first position groups they were able to get a look at were the defensive linemen, who went through various athletic drills inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday.
That's a position that figures to be high up on the Browns' list of priorities considering the relative lack of production that currently exists on the roster outside of record-setting edge rusher Myles Garrett. Considering how Schwartz's defensive philosophy has been connected to strong defensive line play, it only stands to reason that his input would be especially valuable.
"So I think as you guys hear Jim talk, he'll talk about being an attack-style front," Berry said. "So guys that really do get up the field, penetrate, really use either quickness or power to create disruption behind the line of scrimmage. So that's the general picture that you'll get from our defense."
Schwartz's defenses have obviously featured pass rushers like Jevon Kearse, Albert Haynesworth or Mario Williams. That's why there's been an immediate fascination with what he's going to do with Garrett, who set and then tied his own single-season franchise sack mark with 16 in each of the last two seasons.
What Schwartz has also had is some big bodies inside of those edge rushers, players who eat blockers as if they were a plate of sliders. There were guys like Marcell Dareus, Kyle Williams, Ndamukong Suh and Fletcher Cox.
The Browns have, at least under the current regime, trended toward a more speed than size when they've looked at prospects. Berry has himself acknowledged that fact multiple times.
It would seem to create a potential clash of ideology between established personnel department and incoming coordinator. However, Stefanski believes that's pigeon-holing Schwartz a little too much.
"Well, obviously Jim believes in a way of playing, he believes in things that he needs to enable him to do that, but Jim also realizes good coaches can move players around, can get the best out of players," Stefanski said. "So he's not limiting anybody in terms of, 'Hey, this guy doesn't meet this criteria.' He's very open minded, and I think ultimately it's our job as an organization to give him pieces to go succeed."
Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jim Schwartz making an early impact on Browns' offseason decisions
