Jim Schwartz doesn’t consider Lions’ season a failure
By Mike Dyce
Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz has become a name to watch on Black Monday, the day head coaches are fired following the end of the season. The Lions melted down the stretch in the final five weeks and went from first place to eliminated from playing in the playoffs.
Despite that, Schwartz said he doesn’t consider the season a failure.
“We didn’t make the playoffs and I think that’s obviously anybody’s goal, so we didn’t achieve that goal. But I don’t know if I’d be as strong as to call it failure,” Schwartz said, via Pro Football Talk. “We haven’t done a good enough job. I mean, it’s been the quintessential close but no cigar. We’ve battled every game but we’ve come up a play short consistently, whether it was a special teams play or an offensive play or a defensive play.”
Schwartz credits his optimism for his non-failure approach.
“I could get philosophical,” Schwartz said. “When I hear failure, I hear ‘abject failure,’ nothing goes right. That’s the connotation I get from it, maybe you feel different. But I don’t feel that about our team.”