Jim Schwartz resurfaces with the Titans

UPDATE: The Titans officially announced the Jim Schwartz hire.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW.

After some speculation that he might walk away from the NFL entirely, former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has resurfaced on the Tennessee Titans.

Brent Dougherty of 104.5 The Zone in Nashville first reported that Schwartz was joining the Titans as a “senior assistant.” Paul Kuharsky then followed up with some clarification:

Jim Schwartz is back. Kind of. It’s not in the role initially reported by Brent Dougherty, as a senior assistant. At least not yet. Sources tell me that for right now it amounts to a consultant job that may entail a few days a week. Its final shape has not yet been determined, though Schwartz may have been at work for several weeks already. [...] He’s not on the staff here but in an evolving role I’d imagine can be a sounding board for Vrabel and bring ideas and feedback to the Titans’ coach as well as executing assignments given to him.

When Schwartz became the first domino to fall in the Eagles’ coaching changes ahead of the team’s Week 17 game, it was reported that he intended to “take a year off from coaching in 2021 as he contemplates retirement.” It’s now clear that Schwartz isn’t fully retiring just yet.

But it’s not like Schwartz, to our current knowledge, is taking on a full-time coaching role. Serving as a consultant could allow him to still be involved with a team while not requiring the demanding workload that comes with coaching in the NFL.

Schwartz’s return to Tennessee is hardly shocking considering he coached there from 1999 through 2008 and owns a home in the area.

The Eagles, as you know, hired Jonathan Gannon as Schwartz’s replacement earlier this offseason.