Lions coach Jim Schwartz says he and General Manager Martin Mayhew have a fine relationship, despite a report to the contrary.
A day after Don Banks of SI.com reported that tension has developed between Schwartz and Mayhew about the collection of players with character problems the Lions have acquired over the last couple of years, Schwartz said that’s not the case.
“It couldn’t be further from the truth,” Schwartz said, via the Detroit News. “I don’t like to comment on rumors, particularly from people not in our building that don’t see us every day, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We are all in this together and we are all very determined to get us back on the right track.”
Although Banks listed Detroit as a place where changes could be coming either in the front office or with the head coach, Schwartz said he was aware of no issues with any team executives. And Schwartz said he wasn’t happy about having to respond to such a report.
“This whole ‘there is a report that this, how do you respond to it,’ it’s just become a whole thing where we’re responding to an anonymous source or a report that somebody said this or that,” he said. “It’s counter-productive to what we’re trying to do. Though I will say, it couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The record of the Lions since Schwartz took over the team and Mayhew took over the front office is 22-42, so it wouldn’t be surprising if there’s some unhappiness about the current state of the franchise. But it says a lot about how bad the Lions were in the Matt Millen era that even as he was reporting tension, Banks also reported that Schwartz and Mayhew’s jobs are probably safe: Even at 20 games under .500 over four years, the Lions are in better shape now than they were before Schwartz and Mayhew got their jobs.