Joe Schmidt - Coaching Career

Coaching Career

After a 1965 season in which he intercepted four passes, he announced his retirement on March 10, 1966, and was soon named as a Detroit assistant coach. During that year, he tutored linebackers Mike Lucci, who went on to a productive Pro Bowl career with the team, and Wally Hilgenberg, who later was an effective member of the Minnesota Vikings' defense.

After two years of continued conflict with players, Lions' head coach Harry Gilmer was let go and Schmidt was hired to replace him for 1967. In taking control, Schmidt instilled discipline by establishing curfews and trading unhappy players. The end result that first year was a 5–7–2 mark, but his attempts at improving the team after the season almost resulted in his resignation. Seeing the need for a quarterback, Schmidt attempted to trade for former Lion teammate Jim Ninowski, but was rejected by management. By the time the 1968 NFL season began, Schmidt had settled on former Los Angeles Rams signal caller Bill Munson.

That year, Schmidt heard perhaps the first boos ever by Detroit fans when he ran out the clock, instead of trying to break a 20–20 deadlock against Green Bay. By season's end, the team had finished one game worse than the year before. In 1969, his playing career was honored when he was selected the "Greatest Lion Ever" in conjunction with the NFL's 50th anniversary, and his team also showed strong improvement, finishing 9–4–1 on the campaign. Just hours after the team defeated the 11–2 Rams 28–0 on December 14, Schmidt's celebrating caught up with him when he was arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Schmidt's best season came the following year when the Lions were 10–4 to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. The most important win of the year came in a December 14 Monday night clash at Los Angeles, where they defeated the Rams 28–23, while the most heartbreaking loss came on November 8, when Tom Dempsey's record 63-yard field goal beat Detroit 19–17. After that game, Schmidt demoted Munson in favor of third-year quarterback Greg Landry. The playoff run was short, however, as the Dallas Cowboys won a defensive battle, 5–0, on December 26.

In 1971, the team slipped to a 7–6–1 record, but the decline paled in comparison to the death of Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes in the waning moments of the October 24 game against the Chicago Bears. The following year, the team improved by one game, but with one game left, team owner William Clay Ford, unleashed a barrage of criticism on the squad as a whole.

The end result was that Schmidt resigned on January 12, 1973, saying that, "coaching isn't fun anymore." His mood brightened somewhat three weeks later when he was elected to the Hall of Fame, but Schmidt never again coached and spent the next three decades as a manufacturer's representative.

Joe Schmidt's career mark as a coach was 43-35-7; with the exception of Gary Moeller (who coached just seven games, winning four), he is the most recent Lions coach with a winning record.

Schmidt's personality was that of a perfectionist, perhaps one reason why his coaching was not as successful as his playing. He once stated, "I expect everyone to be like me. I guess that's a mistake."