[Elvis]

Someone asked JT my question today:

http://sports.live.stltoday.com/Event/N ... _34?Page=0

Why is Mike Martz doing nothing more than radio analysis of the Chargers? Is he blackballed from the NFL for some reason? Why wouldn't a team that's struggling offensively reach out to him and see if he would come to the rescue?
by Shoot 'N' Fix 9:09 AM
Permalink

Good question. Mike has had a reputation for being hard to work with. I think it would take a strong personality, and a secure personality, in a head coach and GM to work with Mike. But my goodness, I agree with you. It's hard for me to think of a better QB guru than hom. Granted, it's tough love, but the guy gets the most out of QBs. I mean, he squeezed two 4,000-yard passing seasons out of Jon Kitna in Detroit, went 5-3 with Shaun Hill has his starter in San Francisco. I think Mike would like one more crack at it.
by jthomas 9:15 AM

JT covered the Rams for the entire Mike Martz era, knows him well and has often said there's a lot to the MM story that he's not allowed to tell, or that he might tell one day in a book.

I'd read that book.

Also, Thomas is starting to look a lot like Martz...

[Neil039]

It would be good to see Martz in the league again. Whether as a QB coach or OC. Doubt a HC job would come his way before taking one of the other two first.

[aeneas1]

a dated but great piece about the gost as the http://fivethirtyeight.com/ website, an excerpt:

The genesis of the Rams’ aggressive strategy came when Martz was coaching quarterbacks for the Washington Redskins a year earlier. As ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski tells the story in his book “The Games That Changed The Game,” Martz realized that his pass-heavy third-down play packages were too effective to be confined to such a narrow situation (Despite relatively average yards-per-play numbers across all situations, Washington had ranked fourth in the league in third-down conversion rate in 1997).

“Since we both love these plays so much,” Martz asked head coach Norv Turner, “why can’t we run them whenever we want? Why wait till third down?”

“So what happened was that we decided to run these third-and-long plays regardless of down and distance or field position,” Martz told Jaworski. “To us it simply didn’t matter anymore. This kept defenses guessing — they couldn’t zero in on our tendencies, personnel packages, or formations, because they’d always have to be ready for the big pass.”

Although no one knew it at the time, the Rams were at the leading edge of something that was about to take over pro football. The NFL’s average passer rating in 1999 was 75.1 — essentially the same as it had been for a decade — and Warner’s 109.2 rate led the league by a mile. It was, at the time, the second-highest single-season mark ever. Within five years, though, the league-average rating had eclipsed 80.0 for the first time ever, with two players14 surpassing Warner’s rating from 1999. By last season, the average NFL passer rating was 84.1, with Warner’s 1999 mark dropping to 10th all time. Because of their sheer effectiveness, pass-first offensive philosophies have gone from the vanguard (see Coryell’s Chargers, or the various Run-and-Shoot teams of the ’90s) to commonplace over the last 15 years.

full article:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/rev ... w-on-turf/

[dieterbrock]

a dated but great piece about the gost as the http://fivethirtyeight.com/ website, an excerpt:

paine-datalab-gsot-2.png
The genesis of the Rams’ aggressive strategy came when Martz was coaching quarterbacks for the Washington Redskins a year earlier. As ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski tells the story in his book “The Games That Changed The Game,” Martz realized that his pass-heavy third-down play packages were too effective to be confined to such a narrow situation (Despite relatively average yards-per-play numbers across all situations, Washington had ranked fourth in the league in third-down conversion rate in 1997).

“Since we both love these plays so much,” Martz asked head coach Norv Turner, “why can’t we run them whenever we want? Why wait till third down?”

“So what happened was that we decided to run these third-and-long plays regardless of down and distance or field position,” Martz told Jaworski. “To us it simply didn’t matter anymore. This kept defenses guessing — they couldn’t zero in on our tendencies, personnel packages, or formations, because they’d always have to be ready for the big pass.”

Although no one knew it at the time, the Rams were at the leading edge of something that was about to take over pro football. The NFL’s average passer rating in 1999 was 75.1 — essentially the same as it had been for a decade — and Warner’s 109.2 rate led the league by a mile. It was, at the time, the second-highest single-season mark ever. Within five years, though, the league-average rating had eclipsed 80.0 for the first time ever, with two players14 surpassing Warner’s rating from 1999. By last season, the average NFL passer rating was 84.1, with Warner’s 1999 mark dropping to 10th all time. Because of their sheer effectiveness, pass-first offensive philosophies have gone from the vanguard (see Coryell’s Chargers, or the various Run-and-Shoot teams of the ’90s) to commonplace over the last 15 years.

full article:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/rev ... w-on-turf/

Great piece
In addition to how that changed offense, it also changed defense as the NFL saw what the Pats did in the SB, and made it a penalty to mug recievers like they had to.

[Elvis]

Mike Martz changed football.

So much of what he was criticized for is now common place.

And then he was out.

What would have happened if he had stayed longer? Was he a one trick pony or would he have continued to innovate and change the game?

[St. Loser Fan]

Mike Martz changed football.

So much of what he was criticized for is now common place.

And then he was out.

What would have happened if he had stayed longer? Was he a one trick pony or would he have continued to innovate and change the game?

One trick pony.

[rather]

I always thought that once people's emotions settled down that they would look back on the Martz era as truly innovative and forward-thinking.

He was just so hated at the time, and he was not doing what you were "supposed" to do in the NFL when it was going on.

The Rams made a lot of enemies among other management groups. Basically, teams like the Chiefs / Steelers / Bears were always telling their fans "Hey you have to give us like 3-5 years and then we will be competing for a Super Bowl." After the 1999 season teams could no longer say that.

When you couple that with the small market / big market dynamics the GSOT was a real threat to the existing power structure of the NFL. It's really no wonder Tagliabue decided "There is no way in Sam Hill I am giving that woman a second Lombardi Trophy."

[moklerman]

Mike Martz changed football.

So much of what he was criticized for is now common place.

And then he was out.

What would have happened if he had stayed longer? Was he a one trick pony or would he have continued to innovate and change the game?

Pretty tough to project. He really wasn't allowed to do things his way after the Lions and even then, it wasn't really "his" way, just as close to it as he got post Rams.

I still say "his" offense is alive and well in NE. Maybe it's just a nucleus but the Patriots approach the game the same way he did.

[HopHead Ram]

I would love to see what Martz could do with a player like TA. I bet he would actually use him effectively and that contract he just got would seem like a bargain. But alas we have "Bore-Us" and crew. Martz really likes what he sees in Goff as well so that at least makes me feel a little better because it is getting harder and harder listening to the "experts" bash this poor kid. I cannot even listen to PMS anymore because the Rams bashing seems to be non-stop..(But the Raider love is alive and well)

[Hacksaw]

Pretty tough to project. He really wasn't allowed to do things his way after the Lions and even then, it wasn't really "his" way, just as close to it as he got post Rams.

I still say "his" offense is alive and well in NE. Maybe it's just a nucleus but the Patriots approach the game the same way he did.

Agreed, and a lot of it has to do with that lean forward faster pace that keep's a D on it's heels.
The GSOT was something to behold. If I remember right, teams were built for run. MM / Warner / Holt all come out of nowhere. Add in Bruce and our somewhat revamped line and it was like a wildfire. That was really a great team.
Sure it put pressure on other teams. First to see if they could stop it, and then learn to mimic it. To bad for them.
But it appears by those graphs that overall teams are using the air more and many plays are innovative like MM. Some younger coordinators might have cut their teeth on it.