Mike Martz
Mike Martz (born May 13 1951, Sioux Falls, South Dakota) is the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.
Martz is known for creating complicated offensive schemes, particularly in the passing game. As a head coach in the NFL Coach Martz took the St. Louis Rams to the playoffs five out of seven years including an NFC Championship and trip to Super Bowl XXXVI.
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[edit] Early career
Martz played tight end at San Diego Mesa College, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Fresno State, and graduated summa cum laude from Fresno State in 1972. The following year his coaching career began at Bullard High School in Fresno, California. From 1974 to 1991, he was an assistant coach at seven colleges and universities, including two stints as offensive coordinator at Arizona State University.
From 1992 to 1996, he was a tight ends, receivers, and quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams. In 1997 and 1998, he was the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins, and helped develop untouted Trent Green into a promising NFL quarterback.
[edit] St. Louis Rams
In 1999, Martz was hired as the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams, who went on to win Super Bowl XXXIV that season. Martz was named head coach of the Rams on February 2, 2000 after Dick Vermeil (temporarily) retired. He led the Rams to a 10-6 regular season record, but they lost in the 1st round to the New Orleans Saints 31-28.
2001 saw the Rams cruise to a 14-2 record (with Martz's signature Greatest Show on Turf offense, behind two-time league MVP Kurt Warner) and the NFC West title. Martz's Rams went on to win the NFC Championship game against the Eagles, before losing in the Super Bowl.
In 2002 the Rams had a see-saw season in which Kurt Warner played injured and committed more turnovers than usual. In 2003, Marc Bulger's first full year as a starter, the Rams fielded a much-improved defense under defensive coordinator Lovie Smith and led the NFL in forced turnovers, and they posted a 12-4 regular season record and made the playoffs. However, the Rams lost at home in the NFC divisional playoffs to the Carolina Panthers in a game that would have put them in the NFC title game. In that game, the Rams had the ball on the Panthers' 15 yard line with 42 seconds remaining and trailing by 3 points. Rather than go for the win in regulation, Martz made the controversial and unpopular decision to run out the clock and settle for a game-tying field goal and overtime. The decision proved costly for the Rams as they lost in overtime.
In 2004, the Rams got off to a slow start and Martz's popularity with the fans began to wane. The blogosphere and internet forums erupted, and two websites calling for his termination were published (most notably dumpmartz.com and firemartz.com), and an online petition for his removal was started (gopetition). Despite the early struggles, a late-season rally combined with a weak NFC West allowed the Rams to sneak into the playoffs with an 8-8 record -- a tie for the worst record of an NFL playoff team in history. They had to overcome an unusual amount of injuries. They still managed to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the first round, but were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional round. The loss of defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, who left for Chicago and took two of his assistants, clearly hurt the team.
On October 10 2005, Martz took a leave of absence from the Rams to treat a persistent bacterial infection in his heart. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt handled coaching duties as the interim head coach for the rest of the season and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild served as the play-caller. Martz told the Rams that after being examined and evaluated by his treating physician, Dr. Victoria Fraser, that his illness would prevent him from performing his duties. Martz immediately announced he would miss the rest of the season.
Martz allegedly had several conflicts with the St. Louis front office over the years which reportedly came to a climax in 2005. While recovering from his illness at home and watching a live Rams game on television, Martz was blocked by team president John Shaw from relaying a play call to Fairchild by phone. Martz continued to show up periodically at team practices late in the season, and was given medical clearance to coach the Rams' last regular season game on New Year's Day. However, the Rams declined to have Martz coach that game, and fired him on January 2, 2006.
During the seven years in which Martz was involved with the Rams, the team went to two of the franchise's three Super Bowls.
[edit] Post-Rams Career
Martz interviewed for head coaching vacancies in Oakland and New Orleans. After the interview, he withdrew his candidacy for the position in Oakland. After initially rejecting an offer due to financial considerations, on February 8, 2006, Martz accepted an offer from the Detroit Lions to be their offensive coordinator and their QB coach. On January 2, 2008 the Lions fired him, after a second half collapse in which the team lost 7 of their last 8 games.[1] The team finished 7-9 on the season.
On January 8, 2008 he was signed to a 2 year deal to become the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers.[2]
