Did Schwartz want a different ST coordinator?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Dave Birkett of the Oakland Press unearthed a Jeff Fisher radio interview that contains a few extremely interesting tidbits, including a suggestion that Schwartz had planned to hire ST coordinator Scotty O'Brien away from the Broncos--when of course, he ultimately retained the incumbent Stan Kwan.  However, O'Brien was hired by the Patriots for the same position on January 14th, while the retention of Kwan was not announced until February 11th.  Does this mean that Schwartz was turned down by his first choice?  Not necessarily--the announcement of Schwartz's hiring didn't come until January 15th--and though O'Brien and Schwartz had history, that history primarily came from working together under Bill Belichek in Cleveland.  Besides, even if O'Brien was Schwartz's first choice, if you had an offer in hand from a Patriots team looking to get back to the Super Bowl in 2010, and an "if-I-end-up-getting-hired" offer from Jim Schwartz two weeks after the Lions put the finishing touches on the 0-fer . . . would you even hesitate to punch a ticket to Boston?