NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Former Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz went out of his way to compliment a cornerback who played his best football under Schwartz’s tutelage.

I spoke to Schwartz this morning and we talked primarily about Cortland Finnegan but also touched on Ndamukong Suh and Da'Norris Searcy.

I hit on all three in this news story.

But I wanted to go a little deeper on Finnegan, who retired this week, as Schwartz said a great deal about him.

If Schwartz himself had been blessed with the talent to play, he would have wanted to play like Finnegan. That, Schwartz said, was the highest compliment he could pay a player.

Finnegan made the Titans as seventh-round cornerback out of Samford in 2006 and helped bail the team out of the failed Pacman Jones first-round pick in 2005. Schwartz was with the Titans until 2009, when he as hired as head coach in Detroit.

“His intensity and competitiveness on the field, there was never a challenge he wasn’t up for,” Schwartz said of Finnegan. “He was never the biggest guy on the field. He was always tough, never backed down.”

While Finnegan lost a fight with Andre Johnson, he wasn’t afraid to take him on despite a significant size disadvantage. Schwartz also recalled a matchup against Carolina’s Steve Smith that “was worth the price of admission” and another where Finnegan squared off with the Saints' Joe Horn.

Schwartz knew Horn from as far back as high school and told him his pregame trash talk toward Finnegan was unwise.

“I think Joe Horn had one catch for minus-3 yards in that game, he caught a ball at the line of scrimmage and then just grabbed grass,” Schwartz said. “Cort was a really good tackler, he was a really good blitzer, he could play inside, he could play outside.

“He did all the little things right and as competitive and feisty as he was on the field, I think he was a true gentleman off the field.”