When Jim Schwartz was head coaching for the Detroit Lions over the past four years, he spent a lot of time defending star defensive end Ndamukong Suh, and even though he's now a member of the Buffalo Bills coaching staff as defensive coordinator, Schwartz still finds himself defending Suh from criticisms that he deems untrue.
ESPN reports that Schwartz took the defense of Suh, who has gained a reputation from some as being a "dirty player," against criticisms that he was often disruptive and late to practices during Schwartz's tenure as head coach. The report indicates that the latest critique fired towards Suh was from former NFL player Heath Evans during Super Bowl XLVIII weekend, who said Suh was "uncontrollable" and frequently late when Schwartz was coaching.
"There were a lot of things that were completely untrue that were said. Somebody said that Ndamukong was constantly late and was doing it to show up the coaching staff and all these different things," Schwartz said Tuesday on the Midday 180 Show on 104.5 FM in Nashville, according to ESPN. "And I can say categorically, in four years as a player there, he was late zero times in four years, and I know that for a fact."
Added Schwartz: "I was there every single day. Ndamukong was one of our first guys in the building every single day, and he matured as a player also."
Schwartz was fired as Lions coach after the 2013 season and replaced by Jim Caldwell.
Suh has often come under fire for maturity issues which stem from his two-game suspension in 2011 for stomping on Green Bay Packers center Evan Dietrich-Smith and a $100,000 fine he received in 2013 for a low block on Minnesota Vikings center John Sullivan.
Schwartz said he still wants to see Suh do well in the league and his steps in the maturing process were evidenced by the fact that his teammates voted him a team captain.
"You're not going to get voted by your teammates a team captain if you're the guy that's late and things like that," Schwartz said via ESPN. "He's had an outstanding career so far, and he has a lot in front of him. Even though I'm now over at the Bills and we play Detroit this year, I'm certainly still a Ndamukong Suh fan, and in a lot of ways still a Lions fan."
Suh finished with 5.5 sacks this season along with 36 tackles and a safety.
While Schwartz will now focus on leading the Bills to a turnaround after the team finished 2013 with a 6-10 record for the third straight season and in last place in the AFC East, he hopes the Lions will be able to improve on a 7-9 third place finish in the NFC North.
"I want a lot of players there, a lot of coaches there to continue to have success, Schwartz told ESPN, "as long as it is not at the Bills' expense."
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