Martz

MARTZ BACKS OUT OF LIONS GIG

Our computer, in the end, is safe.

We'd recently told a reader that we'd consume the damn thing if Mike Martz stooped to accept a job as an offensive coordinator in 2006. On Wednesday night, it was looking like it would be time to start chewing on the motherboard.

But now Martz is out.

The issue reportedly came down to money. Martz wanted a three-year deal worth just under $1.5 million a year, per ESPN's Chris Mortensen. The Lions wouldn't do it.

"Obviously, I took the job," Martz told The Associated Press "It just didn't work out with the money."

More evidence, in our view, that the Lions know not what they do. Martz's requested salary isn't out of line in light of his skills, experiences, and the market. The Redskins are paying Al Saunders $2 million per year on a three-year deal -- and Martz is more accomplished that Saunders.

It'd be interesting to know how close the two sides got to reaching a deal, and whether in the end the impasse was more about the egos of Matt Millen and/or agent Bob LaMonte than about the gap between the parties' respective positions.

We also wonder whether Martz would have even worked out on head coach Rod Marinelli's staff. Marinelli was hired to be a disciplinarian and play smash-mouth football. So Martz, the king of the finesse attack, was gonna run the offense?

The whole escapade is further proof that the organization is a mess. They picked a guy who didn't fit with the new approach, and then they weren't willing to pay what it took to get the guy they wanted.

Meanwhile, Marinelli says that he has yet to speak with quarterback Joey Harrington, and that he doesn't plan to do so until a new coordinator is hired. What the hell is that all about? Does Rod first need to know whether his new coordinator wants Harrington so that the head coach can decide whether to suck up to Joey or whether to brush him off?

It's stupid. It's asinine. And it bolsters, in our opinion, the talk in some circles that Marinelli will be the NFL's latest Les Steckel by the time it's all said and done.

PFT

 

Funny how after martz ‘accepted the job’, the lions contacted the colts for permission to talk to tom moore.

 

Money not the reason Lions didn't hire Martz
Friday, February 03, 2006
By Tom Kowalski
DETROIT -- There were clues all along that the marriage between the Detroit Lions and Mike Martz wasn't going to happen. The relationship came to an official end on Thursday in the classic "he said, they said" dispute.

Martz, the former St. Louis Rams head coach, did not sign a contract to become the Lions' offensive coordinator because, according to his camp, the team refused to increase their offer from $1 million per year for three seasons to $1.5 million per year.

"We couldn't come to an agreement on terms. I really do feel bad . . . but we just couldn't get on the same page," Martz said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.


Sources close to the situation, though, said money wasn't the deal-breaker for the Lions. Instead, new head coach Rod Marinelli simply didn't feel comfortable enough with Martz as the coordinator.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Marinelli spoke highly of Martz and his coaching ability. Marinelli said he didn't feel threatened by Martz's strong personality or history of clashes with members of the Rams front office.

After the press conference, however, Marinelli said he had yet to offer the job to Martz and wanted more time to ponder the decision.

"I think it's important to step back and see the whole thing," Marinelli said on Wednesday. "I've got to make sure everything is right, that the fit is right. I just don't think that you talk, talk, talk (then) make a decision. I just want a chance to think this thing through and feel good about it. We're talking and we'll see how the whole thing works out.

"It's my decision."

Sources indicate the Lions did more research on Martz's background with the Rams, where he spent the previous seven years as both offensive coordinator and head coach. That may have finalized Detroit's decision.

Lions vice president of communications Bill Keenist said the team would not have a comment on the coaching search.

There is no indication of where the Lions will turn to next in their quest for an offensive coordinator, but they have had previous contact with former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Tom Rossley and Cincinnati Bengals receivers coach Hue Jackson.

During his talk on Wednesday, Marinelli left open the possibility that the Lions would have to move on without Martz.

"There are quite a few men I have had the chance to talk with, but I'm moving slowly on them. There are a couple of guys I spoke with already and we'll see how this one works and go from there," said Marinelli, adding that he was in no hurry.

"So I will step back and kind of keep plugging away until . . . and it may be an unknown (candidate) or it may be (Martz). But it's got to be the right guy. I've got to energize that group. I want to get somebody to come in and just energize the guys, do things that make us special and be a good teacher who maintains a good tempo in practice."

Marinelli also wants to find a coordinator who will buy into his program and his philosophy of physical-first football. Marinelli believes the Lions, to become a winning program, need direction, discipline and leadership, and he wants everybody in the organization on the same page.

"I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to find the right man," Marinelli said. "I want to make it right. I don't want anybody to rush me into a decision before I'm ready. Then I'll make a mistake for our team. I'm going to try my hardest not to make a mistake for this football team."

Marinelli's decision on Thursday was that Martz wasn't the right man for the job.

 

The Lions are the Clippers of the NFL.

 

Y'all should see about getting Bill Walsh after you hire Tom Moore fifteen times and then he stays where he is. Maybe you can be like State fans a couple years ago and think that Bill Cowher will give up the most tenured, write-your-own-check gig ever and go coach for you.

 

Actually, I think it was DaveW who was onto that.

 

They actually did interview tom moore for the HC job…but chose marenelli instead. The colts denied them permission to talk to him for the OC position. I doubt it came down to money with martz, Ford opens his checkbook for coaches.

I’m happy with the coaches he has hired so far…if he resisted temptation to hire a guy that could disrupt team chemistry, then more power to him.

 

So they interviewed a guy and didn’t hire…big deal, it happens everyday. I’m surprised a know it all like you doesn’t know that.

BTW, does martz go sock – sock – shoe – shoe, or sock – shoe –sock shoe? And which way makes for a better coach?

 

he had a gift placed right in his hands and turned it down because he apparently didn't understand who the hell Martz is. You go in looking for an OC, and you want one to run the ball with power, you don't look at Mike Martz unless you're willing to give and take a little (or a lot, considering Marinelli has no OC experience).

 

"I've played (coached) against him for a lot of years now . . . he runs the ball with power," Marinelli said. "All of a sudden it looks like one back and that tight end motions back and it's a two-back lead play. And it can be a power game because you're in a seven-man front. And one thing I really like when I had the opportunity to visit with him is that he's flexible. He can work with what he has in the system. And that means a lot to me."