The Tennessee Titans watched with particular interest Sunday's postgame confrontation between their defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh.
Schwartz took issue with the way Harbaugh greeted him after the 49ers handed his Detroit Lions their first loss of the season, 25-19.
And while such a public outburst from Schwartz was rare during his time in Tennessee, players and fellow coaches know exactly how competitive their former coordinator can be.
“I don’t know what happened, it’s hard to judge anything on not knowing exactly what was said, I just saw the clip that everyone else saw,” Coach Mike Munchak said. “I know how bad he wants to win, I know how hard he works, and I know what a great job he did here and what a great start they are off to there. I’m sure there was a lot in that game that was emotional and I’m not sure what happened at the end. When you are passionate about something, things will flare up, I don’t think there was anything negative about it, I think they just compete.”
Defensive end Jason Jones thought it was highly entertaining as Schwartz chased Harbaugh down the field to get in his face over the incident.
“I know Schwartz is an emotional person, but I'd never seen anything like that between two coaches,” Jones said. “I think they kind of blew it out of proportion a little bit, but it's good for football.”
Added cornerback Cortland Finnegan, whose own feisty manner and emotions have erupted on the field several times in his career.
“I think he's an emotional guy. You don't really know what happens, but you just know he's emotional, and he just loves the game of football,” Finnegan said.
Safety Michael Griffin added that he had seen Schwartz be fired up for games in the locker room before, but not such a display after the game.
“I'd seen him get us fired up for games and what not, but I ain't never seen nothing like that,” Griffin said.
- Terry McCormick
- co-publiser of TitanInsider - Lions247