Chess playing football coach

February 21, 2009
Sports of The Times
In Detroit and Oakland, Coaches Seek Wisdom and Luck
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
New York Times – United States

INDIANAPOLIS — On Thursday afternoon, in a crowded hallway at Lucas Oil Stadium, Tom Cable and Jim Schwartz stood about 25 yards apart, holding court with reporters in impromptu conversations at the N.F.L. combine.

Cable and Schwartz don’t know each other well, not beyond exchanging pleasantries over the years. But this season they are first-year members of the fraternity of N.F.L. head coaches.

Cable, 44, was named the interim coach of the Oakland Raiders in September at the end of a series of bizarre events that led to the team’s owner, Al Davis, firing Lane Kiffin. Earlier this month, Cable was introduced as the Raiders’ head coach.

Schwartz, 42, the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator last season, was named coach of the Detroit Lions last month.

…Schwartz is an avid chess player. What he likes about the game of kings is that it is a bottom-line game. The object is to win, and it doesn’t matter how.

Schwartz will approach the coming season as a chess player would. Forget about style points. The bottom line is winning. No one cares how.

From Oakland to Detroit, that has to be good news.

Here is the full article.