Spring rush: Lions' Schwartz joins the fraternity
DANA POINT, Calif. -- Seated on a veranda at the St. Regis Hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean, snacking on Kobe beef sliders -- yes, $20 sliders -- Lions coach Jim Schwartz was asked if it felt strange, joining this elite fraternity as one of 32 NFL head coaches.
"You don't think I rolled this way?" he said, laughing.
No, he quickly admitted. (And, yes, by the way, it is a bit awkward for a league crying poor and laying off workers to be hosting its owners' meetings at a $425/night resort hotel.)
"I'm like the cheapest guy in America," said Schwartz, who, like most coaches and executives here, brought his wife and kids along for the trip. "So if i was staying here, it would be on some kind of points system -- you know, credit cards points or one of those. It wouldn't be on my dime."
Shortly after lunch, Schwartz was scheduled to pose with the rest of the league's head coaches for a group photo. For a guy who got his start as an unpaid go-fer in the Cleveland Browns' football offices, that's pretty cool, no?
"You know what would be cool?" he said. "Is if, 5-6 years from now, I'm still in that picture."
