Mike Martz (born May 13, 1951, Sioux Falls, South Dakota) is currently the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. Martz is known for creating complicated offensive schemes, particularly in the passing game. He is best known as the offensive coordinator behind the NFL's St. Louis Rams high-powered 1999 team who won the Super Bowl that season.
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Early Career
He coached at the following schools:
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.
St. Louis Rams Martz was then 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 to New England. In 2002 the Rams had a see-saw season in which Kurt Warner played injured and committed more turnovers than usual; Marshall Faulk was also not the factor he had been in previous years, although many faulted Martz for his, i.e. his tendency to emphasize the pass too much and not run Faulk more. 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 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 "online community" was particularly hostile. 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. They had to overcome an unusual number of injuries, but still managed to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the first round before losing to the 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. His record of 55-5 with a lead any time in the 4th Qtr [91.7 winning %] and 26.5 pointts a game as a head coach were the best of all time at the end of 2005 season by any coach in the history of the NFL. The Rams are 15-28 since Martz left.
Detroit Lions 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. In 2006, his first season, the passing game improved considerably, ranking 7th overall behind unheralded QB Jon Kitna, who had his first 4,000-yard season at age 34. Yet Martz's near obsession with the pass tended to leave quarterbacks vulnerable and running backs poorly utilized, and was a big factor in the Lions allowing more sacks than all but one other team, ranking dead last in rushing, and having the third-most turnovers in the league. Detroit lost its first five games with Martz and finished 3-13 in his first season as coordinator. Though the offense obviously had its woes, Martz wasn't blamed for very much of the team's issues, as the defense was also bad and there were various injury and personnel issues. In 2007, with expectations still high following the previous year's disaster, it appeared Martz's system was actually beginning to work, and the Lions looked to be playoff contenders, almost in competition with Green Bay for the division title at mid-season when they sat comfortably at 6-2. Though Kitna was still sacked far too much during this span, it was still a great improvement from the year before, and sacks aside, Detroit possessed one of the league's most potent passing games during this period. But the script turned so sour from here that it was arguably worse than '06, and Lions fans were once again painfully disappointed. After dropping six games in a row, Detroit faced Kansas City, who had been on quite a losing streak themselves, winning one more game, then dropping one to the Chargers en route to a disappointing 7-9 campaign. When even players began to complain of Martz's pass-happy and unbalanced offense, the Lions fired him in the offseason.
San Francisco 49ers On January 8, 2008 he signed a 2-year deal to become the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, who hope that a fourth offensive coordinator in 4 years can re-energize the offense (most notably, QB Alex Smith's career). After watching Alex Smith misfire on a few throws last week, San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz pulled the quarterback aside. He told Smith to bend his knees for better balance. A quarterback is nothing without balance. It's a lesson Martz himself learned 33 years ago, just a few deep routes from 49ers headquarters. As a graduate student at San Jose State in 1975, Martz took a class in kinesiology. For one project, he analyzed the biomechanics of discus throwers. Where was the best release point? The best way to shift weight? The best way to achieve the truest flight? That's what Martz asked himself back then. Smith, Shaun Hill and J.T. O'Sullivan get the answers every day at training camp. "It really helps you to teach your quarterbacks to understand the physics of it," Martz said. "The balance, the lines of force, the kinetic energy and all that kind of stuff. It really does help you streamline their techniques and make them most efficient. "You're not just repeating what somebody taught you years ago." The class was only part of Martz's education at San Jose State. He also got his feet wet as a Division I coach, serving as a lowly graduate assistant to Darryl Rogers. Rogers had already known Martz for years, having talked the slow but savvy tight end into transferring to Fresno State when Martz's original school, UC Santa Barbara, abandoned its program. Martz graduated summa cum laude from Fresno State before coaching at Bullard High in Fresno in 1973 and San Diego Mesa Community College in 1974. Then he followed Rogers to San Jose State. Players on that 1975 team swear that some of the terror Martz has unleashed on the NFL can be traced back to Rogers' game-calling with the Spartans. Layering the field with vertical and horizontal routes? An audacious devotion to the passing game? A tailback with huge rushing numbers despite the emphasis on quarterback play? For Martz, it was Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk; for Rogers, it was Roger Profit and Rick Kane. "It's the same type of system," said Kim Bokamper, a linebacker in 1975. "We'd throw the ball 60 times, but you'd look up at the end and see that the running back still had 130 to 140 yards." San Jose State outscored its opponents 291-152 behind Profit (an all-conference selection) and Kane (who rushed for 1,144 yards and seven touchdowns). The Spartans went 9-2, which was good enough to get Rogers a new job at Michigan State. Martz was, in a sense, a glorified intern at San Jose State, and it was not always immediately apparent that the kid would someday help the St. Louis Rams become the first team in NFL history to score 500 points in three consecutive seasons. "You have to remember, Mike wasn't left on his own to be a 'genius,' " Rogers said, "but when he had the opportunity, he showed everything you'd want in a coach." Martz left the Spartans after one season, returning to Mesa CC as an assistant offensive coach. Equipped with his biomechanics knowledge, he found his first guinea pig in quarterback Steve Fairchild. As a Detroit Free Press story recounted, Fairchild couldn't see color at night beyond 20 yards. Action was something of a blur. His brain compensated by feel, and he threw at times by sense, not sight. Fairchild's unorthodox approach helped Martz better understand the ideal quarterback-receiver dynamic. It was about timing and trust, about rhythm and balance. Fairchild, an unheralded prospect, went on to become the first junior college player to throw for 5,000 yards. Now, it's the 49ers' turn. The quarterbacks are instructed to drop back with fluid strides, with the ball designed to come out on the last step. They also are learning to throw to specific areas depending on how the defense reacts. The quarterback's read is automatic; there is a right and wrong answer on every snap. "He's intelligent, but that isn't the key," Rogers said of Martz. "The key is whether you can teach that intelligence to your players. He's in a league where they'd better learn it. If it takes brash to get it across, then be brash. Mike does it the way he should."
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