Martz dismissed

[Pistons < Spurs]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=ApFMCxkAP6C0hkM2aCr208ZDubYF?slug=ap-rams-martzfired&prov=ap&type=lgns

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mike Martz was fired as coach of the St. Louis Rams on Monday after a 6-10 season in which he missed the final 11 games because of a heart ailment.

The Rams started the season 2-3 before Martz was sidelined with an infection of the heart lining. Assistant Joe Vitt replaced him for the rest of the season, which ended Sunday with a 20-10 win over Dallas that left the team at 6-10.

The 54-year-old Martz coached the Rams for more than five seasons, leading them to playoffs four times and to the Super Bowl after the 2001 season. The Rams lost the title game to New England.

Martz was under contract through 2006, when he was scheduled to earn $3.25 million.

He was hired as offensive coordinator before the 1999 season, and his "Greatest Show on Turf" offense led the Rams to that season's Super Bowl championship. He took over as coach when Dick Vermeil retired two days after the Rams beat Tennessee in the Super Bowl following that season.

His greatest skill was his knowledge of quarterbacks. Kurt Warner, a former Arena League and NFL Europe quarterback, took over in 1999 when Trent Green was injured and was voted league MVP that year and again in 2001.

After being hurt, Warner was replaced in 2002 by Marc Bulger, who held the job. Bulger, a sixth-round draft choice in 2000 by New Orleans, had been spotted by Martz before the draft and the Rams signed him when the Saints let him go.

He spent much of this season at odds with the team's front office, especially Jay Zygmunt, the president of football operations. The front-office feud was evident Oct. 23 when Martz was prevented from communicating by cell phone with the coaching staff.

Martz was 56-36, including the postseason, when he took his medical leave. He announced late in the season that he had recovered and was ready to return to coaching. He made several appearances at Rams Park, but was not allowed back on the sidelines.

This season, St. Louis missed the playoffs for just the second time since Martz took over. The other time was 2002, when the Rams finished 7-9.

[rayray2k8]

lol thats fucked up... but i think alot of people saw this coming... problem was, is that everyone forgot!!

[McKenzie]

So...the mighty NFL, who helps out all kinds of sick folks and shit, fired Martz due to missing games from heart ailment?

Real classy. Right up Tag's alley. Or should I say pipe? Oh, that's crass but who cares?

Hey rayray, flip off SR.com for me while you're at it. Thanks, man.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

I hate to defend the Rams (and McKenzie, it's the Rams who decide who they'd like to fire, not the league), but Martz was on the hot seat before the season started.

The Rams handled Martz very shitty, though, when he was ill (not allowing him to talk with the coordinators during a game to offer help), etc.

I think blaming the league for this is like blaming the Spurs for Tony forgetting his driver's license on Christmas Eve.

[Horry For 3!]

The Rams didn't want Martz as their head coach and they used his illness as a way to get him out of there.

[N.Y. Johnny]

Fired the man in his hospital bed huh?


brutal

[Horry For 3!]

Fired the man in his hospital bed huh?


brutal
Nope. He has been healthy enough and was able to coach the last 3-4 weeks but Rams wouldn't let him come back.

[Chris]

Martz will probably go to Houston or Minnesota.

[Vashner]

Yea but the NFL takes care of it's own. .none of these people are in the poor house.

[T Park]

Martz's firing, as a Rams fan is bitter sweet.

You don't like how he was fired, but it was time he left.

Things have gotten stale, and problems the last few years have continued and not gotten better.

The defense has gotten gradually worse since Lovie Smith left, and the special teams have stunk every since 99.


Its time for change no question.

Just wish he was healthy so it wouldn't look so bad.


Im hoping Gregg Williams, Ron Rivera, or hope against hope, Jeff Fisher, is the one hired.

[Horry For 3!]

Martz's firing, as a Rams fan is bitter sweet.

You don't like how he was fired, but it was time he left.

Things have gotten stale, and problems the last few years have continued and not gotten better.

The defense has gotten gradually worse since Lovie Smith left, and the special teams have stunk every since 99.


Its time for change no question.

Just wish he was healthy so it wouldn't look so bad.


Im hoping Gregg Williams, Ron Rivera, or hope against hope, Jeff Fisher, is the one hired.
Titans would be fucking stupid if they let Jeff Fisher go.

[ShoogarBear]

Martz's firing, as a Rams fan is bitter sweet.

You don't like how he was fired, but it was time he left.

Things have gotten stale, and problems the last few years have continued and not gotten better.

The defense has gotten gradually worse since Lovie Smith left, and the special teams have stunk every since 99.


Its time for change no question.

Just wish he was healthy so it wouldn't look so bad.


I really think Martz did a wholly unimpressive job as a head coach. His egotistical refusal to run the ball was as much responsible as anything for their SB loss to the Patriots.

St. Louis is a job just crying out for a Gregg Williams (who, like Martz, may still end up being someone better as a coordinator than a head guy).

[Extra Stout]

So...the mighty NFL, who helps out all kinds of sick folks and shit, fired Martz due to missing games from heart ailment?

Real classy. Right up Tag's alley. Or should I say pipe? Oh, that's crass but who cares?

Hey rayray, flip off SR.com for me while you're at it. Thanks, man.
What?

The Rams fired Martz, not the NFL. And they didn't fire him for health reasons, but rather because his paranoia and lack of leadership has left the Rams' locker room in total disarray.

Plus, Martz is reknowned for his boneheaded strategic decisions.

This was no surprise.

[Duff McCartney]

I say we bring in Martz to be the O coordinator for the Cowboys. His risk taking would be a perfect compliment to Bills conservative style.

[tlongII]

Martz might be a good hire for the Texans. That is, if they don't draft Reggie Bush.

[Pistons < Spurs]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2279065


Martz ready to coach again


ST. LOUIS -- Mike Martz is eager to coach again, especially after missing the last 11 games of the season with a heart ailment.

He's still coming to grips with not coaching the St. Louis Rams anymore, he told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

"I felt like I could ride this one into the sunset," Martz said, a day after he was fired after five-plus seasons. "But the NFL, it stands for 'Not for Long.' "


Martz's agent, Bob LaMonte, is scheduled to meet with team president John Shaw in the next day or two to discuss a possible settlement of the final year of his contract, worth $3.25 million.

"All of that stuff, I just leave up to my agent," Martz said. "We'll just see how that goes. We'll just see what the Rams say."

Physically, Martz said he's ready to work again. He received clearance from his physician to return to work on Sunday after dealing with endocarditis, a bacterial infection of a heart valve, but told his agent a month ago that he was ready then.

"I feel great," Martz said. "I feel fully recovered."

Martz had been with the Rams for 12 of the past 14 years, beginning as an unpaid assistant to Chuck Knox in 1992. He served as wide receivers coach for two seasons, and as offensive coordinator for the franchise's lone Super Bowl championship in 1999 before succeeding Dick Vermeil as head coach in 2000.

In four of his five full seasons, Martz led the Rams to the playoffs, and took them to the Super Bowl in 2001 before losing to the Patriots. This year, he stepped down for the season in October and the team finished 6-10 under interim coach Joe Vitt, the franchise's worst record since 1998.

Vitt checked into a hospital for treatment of a lingering staph infection on Tuesday.

"I thought we had terrific success here," Martz said. "It was a very special place in time and we were able to stretch it out over five or six seasons, Dick's last season and my five years.

"It was terrific and I think the coaches, the players and the city enjoyed that terrifically."

Now Martz, 54, will try to duplicate that in another city.

"It's going to be fun to try," Martz said. "No question about it. This makes you hungry."

Players who've been around him for years are confident it can happen again.

"One thing I know about him, he's a great coach," offensive tackle Orlando Pace said. "He'll land on his feet and he'll land a job pretty quick."

Martz refused to talk about specific job openings. He did say, however, that for now he's unwilling to return as an offensive coordinator.

"We'll just see how it works out," he said. "I'm sorting through this right now."

Rather than leave with bitter feelings, Martz spoke in generalities about the end of his era in St. Louis. He was dismissed more because of a rift with Jay Zygmunt, president of football operations, and general manager Charley Armey, than his won-lost record.

"I think you always have regrets because you think you could have done a better job," Martz said. "Perfection is always the goal.

"Obviously there's regrets that I'm not going to be here anymore, but that's the way it goes."

Martz was peeved about reports he'd been showing up at Rams Park on a frequent basis at the end of the season. He said he spent three of the last four weeks of the season at his second home in San Diego and was returning to that city on Wednesday.

He also said he had not met with Shaw in about 2½ months. Martz said he was at Rams Park on Monday when Shaw told him on the telephone that he was being fired.

Given a chance to stay, Martz said he believed he could have mended fences with Zygmunt. He noted the two had a good working relationship earlier in his tenure.

"On a personal level, it's not what it used to be," Martz said. "We have some differences. But obviously, I could coexist with him."

Shaw said Monday that he hoped to hire a new coach in three to four weeks and is expected to lean toward a defensive mind this time. The team has already received permission to talk with Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera this week.

[ShoogarBear]

Vitt checked into a hospital for treatment of a lingering staph infection on Tuesday.


WTF? Martz has endocarditis and now Vitt has a "lingering staph infection" (which is a good way to get an endocarditis)?

They need to do a better job of cleaning the coaches' offices in the Edward Jones Dome.

[T Park]

I really think Martz did a wholly unimpressive job as a head coach

4 out of 5 years in the playoffs.

3 of those years 10 or more wins.

I thought, last i checked, that was successfull.

[ShoogarBear]

By those standards, Bob Hill is successful.

Martz started with a team one year removed from a Super Bowl championship.

He screwed up a SB against a Pats team he should have beaten.

After then, it was all downhill.