Yes, they will... er... have... hired him!

As far as whether he'll be able to turn the team around, it depends on a number of factors. First, there's nowhere to go but up. Even 2-14 would be infinitely times as good as 0-16 is. (ha ha).

The biggest problem plaguing the Lions hasn't been coaching, or even the GM (Though firing Millen before this awful season was a step in the right direction), but the whole ownership and management of the team. William Clay Ford is a disgrace. If he owned a car company, he'd be like "Oh. People aren't buying our cars? Meh. Keep the factories running anyway!".

So, the question is, how much power will he get? How much say will he have in the draft? How much can he push to revamp - or at least override the Lions' completely decrepit front office? The coach isn't usually the kind of guy that gets all of that power - he's just the coach, he's a middle manager, in business speak, I suppose. The more he has control over, the more he will be able to revamp and revitalize the team.

Huge improvements are not unprecedented, but they are pretty rare - and the huge improvements usually coincide with the last season involving a number of unlucky games. The 1-15 Dolphins in 07 were very bad, but they were in a tough division, had a tough schedule, had some close games - they could've been 5-11 in the NFC West... or better.

Things may be rough, but if anyone is up for the challenge of improving the team, Schwartz is the guy - but he's going to need all the help he can get if this team is actually going to become *good* some day.

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