Bills Hire Former Lions HC Jim Schwartz As Defensive Coordinator

The Buffalo Bills announced the hiring of former Lions HC Jim Schwartz as their new defensive coordinator.

• The Bills also announced that Todd Downing will be their quarterbacks coach.

Buffalo just lost Mike Pettine for the Browns after accepting their head coaching position. Some expected the Bills to hire from within, but Schwartz was probably a great hire for an up and coming defensive unit.

Albert Breer reports that the Bills didn’t want to take a chance with an unproven coordinator, so with that in mind, it makes sense to hire a very qualified coach in Schwartz. Breer adds that a source told him that they liked “everything” about Schwartz.

Schwartz spent seven season as the Titans defensive coordinator under then HC Jeff Fisher and was actually a part of the Titans coaching staff dating back to 1999. Schwartz has had great success working with defensive lineman and there’s no question that the Bills have a very solid group of young players up front.