Dear Fish: Just. Effing. Hire. Martz.

[Blue and Gold]

Fact is there is a lot of hate surrounding Mike with Rams fans for no good reason. IMO.

I agree. There was a lot of great things about him and Rams fans owe him a lot. But, by 2005 it was time to be fired, it's just too bad Zyggy and Shaw went with Linny (he of the give Drew Bennett big money)

Vermeil, "I say this: I can't think, in my history of coaching, of any assistant who came into an NFL franchise and made the immediate impact that Mike Martz did in 1999"

Even in the "failures" in Chicago,

"In Kurt Warner’s mind, former Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz worked his magic during the 2011 season.

Other than quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte, Warner, the two-time NFL MVP who played under Martz in St. Louis, wasn’t impressed with the talent on the Bears’ offensive line or in the receiving corps.

‘‘It looked go od, and I think the most impressive part was the combination of Mike adjusting what they were doing because of all the struggles early in the year,” Warner said, referring to a run when the Bears won five games in a row and the offense scored 32 points per game. ‘‘In my opinion, outside of Jay and Matt Forte, they don’t have any superstars on offense. They don’t have any go-to receivers. That guy who can separate themselves or gives you a match-up problem. They just don’t have that guy. So Mike had to adjust to the limitations.’’

" Faulk on the retirement of Mike Martz, his former head coach in St. Louis: "I know that he has a lot to offer. It's bad that he takes a knock for being a passing guy, when you look at today's NFL. And what he did and how we did it — that's what everybody's doing right now."

Faulk defending Martz's work as offensive coordinator in Chicago: "Martz was working with lesser talent than he's accustomed to working with. And I believe that (in the 2010 season) they were playing in the NFC championship, at home, against the Packers. With Caleb Hanie in the game after Jay Cutler went down. And they were in the game. If he didn't do a good job, they should have let him go then. Other than (running back) Matt Forte, there wasn't anyone that was fear inducing. I'm defending Mike because I can only imagine how hard it was to game plan with what he had. "


____________

Me: Martz is neither a god or the devil. But he was key in the best run the St.Louis Rams have ever had.

 

[Blue and Gold]

some books titles over the past decade

Sticking it Out During Tough Times, by Bobby Petrino

What it is Like Being a De-balled NFL Coach, by Scott Linny

How to Use Challenges and Time-outs Wisely, by Mike Martz

Recognizing the Value of an NFL Fullback, by Tom Coughlin

How I was the Best Fullback on Rams but Still got Cut, by Paul Smith

Being Forced out by a Lesser Player, by Isaac Bruce

How to Con your way to a $30 million contract, by Drew Bennett


How I was the Best Fullback on Rams but Still got Cut, part II, by Madison Hedgecock.

How to Win Friends and Influence Coaches, by Richard Owens.

How to be Beaten Deep in just Three Easy Steps, by Tye Hill

View From the Top, a story of an NFL Champion, by Madison Hedgecock

 

[Blue and Gold]

Ike, "I met Coach Martz back in 1995. Coach Martz, he taught me accountability as far as football was concerned, as far as being a receiver. He taught me the technique, how to run a route. He taught me how to watch other great receivers and take what they had and do what they did and add it to my game.

He also taught me aggression, how to have controlled aggression on the football field. I think all of that was being placed in me and reminding me to be a football player first and a wide receiver second. We all know that football is a collision sport, and I pride myself on being a football player and not just a wide receiver. If I had to cut you, you best believe you’ll be cut. If I had to block you hard, block you after the whistle, any fisticuffs, I was willing to do that up until the referees break it up. A lot of that was instilled in from Coach Mike Martz.


“In [Mike Martz's] system, you gotta be able to run. You’d better be cerebral, you’d better be able to learn and you’d better have thick skin because he’s so demanding. You’re working with a perfectionist. If you can’t do those three things — if you’re not tough, if you’re not willing to go and block and run routes and be efficient and be quick, you will not play in his system.”

-Free agent wide receiver Torry Holt on what it takes for a wide receiver to fit into Mike Martz’s offense.


"When Martz was hired to be the offensive coordinator of the Rams in 1999, Dick Vermeil gave him full authority over offensive schemes and play-calling. Martz felt second-guessed, during games and while game-planning, by veteran Vermeil assistant Mike White. After White openly derided a Martz play-call during a game at Tennessee that fall, Martz made it clear to Vermeil and White he didn't want White around his offensive players or their meetings for the rest of the year. And when White entered an offensive team meeting and sat down in the back of the room late in the season, Martz said to him: "Get the f--- out of here, Mike." The players loved it because they knew Martz was progress and White was the bad old days. And Martz loved it because he was exercising the power he'd rightly earned.



''We would not win a world championship with the Rams without Mike Martz,'' Vermeil said. ''We had other great coaches, too. But [Martz] was, to me, the real catalyst. He was the final piece of our puzzle.''

"If they decide to go in another direction it'll be disappointing for me because of the amount of respect I have for Coach Martz and what he's taught me since I came into the National Football League," Holt said this past week. "A lot of my game and what I've learned comes from him: learning how to get open, learning details, learning how to take my profession serious. I owe a lot of that to Coach Martz."

 

[Blue and Gold]

''Coach Martz, he transcended a lot of things,'' said Kitna, who worked with Martz with the Detroit Lions during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. ''I learned more football in two years with him than I could ever be able to regurgitate.

Martz is thought to be open to the possibility of working with Bulger. Bulger still credits Martz with most of his development as an NFL quarterback, although by the end of Martz's tenure in St. Louis (in 2005) Bulger had grown weary of Martz's hard-driving style. But that was five years ago.


"He helped teach me how to play the game," Warner said of Martz. "He helped me become more efficient with my fundamentals. He taught me more about the X's and O's of football, different positions that I ever knew before, and the offense was perfect for me."

Warner credited Martz for teaching him the intricacies of the game.

“It shaped me as a player, no question,” Warner said. “It was so instrumental in who I became as a football player in every facet.”

''He was the most intelligent football coach I've ever been around,'' ex-Rams and current Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said of Martz. ''He taught me more about the game than any other coach. He obviously helped me physically with technique, throwing the ball and being balanced. He was so valuable to my career and to where I'm at as a football player right now and what I know about the game. It was definitely a process, but he was so good, both physically and mentally in getting ready to play and helping me become the quarterback that I am.''

 

[Thordaddy]

Ike, "I met Coach Martz back in 1995. Coach Martz, he taught me accountability as far as football was concerned, as far as being a receiver. He taught me the technique, how to run a route. He taught me how to watch other great receivers and take what they had and do what they did and add it to my game.

He also taught me aggression, how to have controlled aggression on the football field. I think all of that was being placed in me and reminding me to be a football player first and a wide receiver second. We all know that football is a collision sport, and I pride myself on being a football player and not just a wide receiver. If I had to cut you, you best believe you’ll be cut. If I had to block you hard, block you after the whistle, any fisticuffs, I was willing to do that up until the referees break it up. A lot of that was instilled in from Coach Mike Martz.


“In [Mike Martz's] system, you gotta be able to run. You’d better be cerebral, you’d better be able to learn and you’d better have thick skin because he’s so demanding. You’re working with a perfectionist. If you can’t do those three things — if you’re not tough, if you’re not willing to go and block and run routes and be efficient and be quick, you will not play in his system.”

-Free agent wide receiver Torry Holt on what it takes for a wide receiver to fit into Mike Martz’s offense.


"When Martz was hired to be the offensive coordinator of the Rams in 1999, Dick Vermeil gave him full authority over offensive schemes and play-calling. Martz felt second-guessed, during games and while game-planning, by veteran Vermeil assistant Mike White. After White openly derided a Martz play-call during a game at Tennessee that fall, Martz made it clear to Vermeil and White he didn't want White around his offensive players or their meetings for the rest of the year. And when White entered an offensive team meeting and sat down in the back of the room late in the season, Martz said to him: "Get the f--- out of here, Mike." The players loved it because they knew Martz was progress and White was the bad old days. And Martz loved it because he was exercising the power he'd rightly earned.



''We would not win a world championship with the Rams without Mike Martz,'' Vermeil said. ''We had other great coaches, too. But [Martz] was, to me, the real catalyst. He was the final piece of our puzzle.''

"If they decide to go in another direction it'll be disappointing for me because of the amount of respect I have for Coach Martz and what he's taught me since I came into the National Football League," Holt said this past week. "A lot of my game and what I've learned comes from him: learning how to get open, learning details, learning how to take my profession serious. I owe a lot of that to Coach Martz."

Oh yeah I remember the first year Martz was here our YAC was attributed to all the recs. blocking.

 

[Blue and Gold]

Vermeil in 2010: "I didn't have any problems with Mike Martz. None whatsoever. I have great respect for him, and I think he has great respect for me. We took a team to the Super Bowl. Without him we don't go."

Vermeil at Super Bowl 1999: "Mike is a great coach. We wouldn't be here without him."

Vermeil in 2006: I can't think, in my history of coaching, of any assistant who came into an NFL franchise and made the immediate impact that Mike Martz did in 1999.




"Kurt Warner came off the street, and (Mike Martz) he made him NFL player of the year."

 

[Boffo97]

I can tell you one thing... if I'm wrong and Martz did come back, there is no f'ing way we'd be taking Cutler off the Bears hands.

Those two absolutely should not be working together again.

 

[Blue and Gold]

Why Not!?! People Mature. Vermeil did! Why not Martz!!

Just a gut feeling. I've been clear on Martz. He deserves more credit than the "haters" but he's also had some warts. I'd just rather have Chud. But I wouldn't bitch and whine if Martz got it, but I don't think the Rams are even remotely interested.

 

[RamBall]

Its funny Martz gets labeled as pass happy and abandoning the run, but didnt Faulk put up some good rushing #s. Martz didnt abandon the run as much as he used the run to burn clock once the Rams had a good lead, and if a D had trouble stopping the run Martz would run it down their throat. But its the passing game that produced the highlights and the lowlights of the QB getting battered once there was no longer an OL to protect the QB. I would love for Martz to come back, his O was not all about the pass, it was about attacking and making the D defend the entire field.

 

[Corbin]

Just a gut feeling. I've been clear on Martz. He deserves more credit than the "haters" but he's also had some warts. I'd just rather have Chud. But I wouldn't bitch and whine if Martz got it, but I don't think the Rams are even remotely interested.

There's the kicker, I don't think we are even remotely interested.

I'm sorry guys but if Martz was our OC I GURAN DAMN TEE our offensive scoring and output would beat Schotty's hand's down. All we need is a competent offense with a completent QB and I believe Martz would give us both. With that being said I think we are waiting for Mr. Chud.

 

[Blue and Gold]

Its funny Martz gets labeled as pass happy and abandoning the run, but didnt Faulk put up some good rushing #s. .

Faulk agrees with you, "Faulk on Mike Martz, It's bad that he takes a knock for being a passing guy, when you look at today's NFL. And what he did and how we did it — that's what everybody's doing right now."

 

[Blue and Gold]

Why Not!?! People Mature. Vermeil did! Why not Martz!!

Taking Martz back for some would be like this guy not taking his girlfriend back after he caught her cheating

 

[ram007]

We did win a Super Bowl and go to another with those 7 step drops...didn't we?

There was a span of about 5 years of truly dominant, exciting football in St. Louis...Martz was calling the offense for each of those. When he left...that left.

So true. That says a lot about the man's ability. Not all things end as well it starts. That's life. Have nothing but respect for Martz.

 

[Rabid Ram]

Here's the same information I posted before, once again. Abject failure is not nearly accurate as a descriptor for his lack of success after he left the Rams:

Detroit Lions 2005 offense: 254 points. (Olsen & Tollner, 28th scoring, 21st most points allowed, 5-11 record, Head Coach Jauron fired)
Detroit Lions 2006 offense: 305 points. (Martz first year, 21st scoring, 30th most points allowed and 3-13 record)
Detroit Lions 2007 offense: 346 points. (Martz second year, 16th scoring, worst defense in league and 7-9 record, Martz fired)
Detroit Lions 2008 offense: 268 points. (Colleto replaced Martz, 27th scoring, worst defense in league and 0-16 record, Head Coach Marinelli fired)

SF in 2007: scored 209 points. (pre-Mad Mike, dead last in scoring)
SF in 2008: scored 339 points. (Martz first year, 22nd scoring, Alex Smith did not play all year, Mad Mike fired after the season)

Fact is there is a lot of hate surrounding Mike with Rams fans for no good reason. IMO.

So your content with pedestrian bottom 12 in the league in scoring?

 

[TSFH Fan]

I've done a complete 180 on this topic. Was -- Martz done. Now -- Martz or Boras? Martz please. [yeah, I know, we're not quite at "Martz or Boras" . . . yet]. More precisely, I'd want a Fisherized Martz.

Look, part of being a head coach is coaching your coaches. For example, I'm pretty sure Tom Coughlin had some effect on Kevin Gilbride, way back with the Jags. KG was a flippin' run-and-shoot dude. And we know Fish is going to lay down the law on whoever ends up being the OC. If Martz is the genius people pumped him up to be, he should be able to evolve and adapt to Fish.

Three step drops? Do it. We know Sam (with the help of the Spags 2.7 second buzzer program) can do the quick throws.
Cook? Tell Martz he's a big WR or that he's like Vernon Davis with his head screwed on straight (you can win with Cook!)
Clock Management? On Fish.

And if Martz doesn't want to bow down and kiss the Fish ring? Next!

 

[OnceARam]

Bright, flashing lights!!!

 

[Mojo Ram]

To be honest, listening to Martz when asked about Bradford the last few years...I don't think Mad Mike is a fan.
IIRC he's mostly been "nice" when asked about Bradford's potential greatness as an NFL QB. You can hear it in his voice and in his words.

 

[Sum1]

It's funny...I always read about all these QBs that got killed because of Martz's 7 step drops. Yet, Warner's only major injury that I recall that effected his play was a broken finger and later he stated a bone in his hand. If I recall correctly that was attributed to a bad center/Qb exchange.

I also don't remember Bulger missing much time under Martz...nor do I remember Bulger struggling in the pocket until after the Martz years.

I remember Kitna getting sacked a lot in Detroit, but I don't believe he suffered any injuries during that time...and the numbers don't like about how much better their offense was with Martz than right before and right after he was there.

In San Fran Alex Smith was hurt in the preseason...I'd be lying if I said I could remember how or what his injury was and if it was truly attributed to too many 7 step drops or not...but I'd have a hard time believing that in a preseason format. I don't think Shaun Hill suffered any injuries under Martz.

And in Chicago, I think the Bears offensive line woes are documented during that era...and Cutler being a pussy.

 

[brokeu91]

I think Martz could really help Bradford. To me, Bradford's biggest weakness (outside of the injury problems) is his lack of down-field throws. That's actually kind of maddening since he has some of the best accuracy on long throws that I've ever seen. Martz would get him to throw it down field. I also think he could do WONDERS for our WR group.

 

[DaveFan'51]

Taking Martz back for some would be like this guy not taking his girlfriend back after he caught her cheating

I guess this^ is your Long winded way of saying, you wouldn't take Martz back!?! OK!