Mike Martz
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Michael Martz (born May 13, 1951) is an
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
coach. Best known for his coaching tenure with the
St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), he served as the offensive coordinator for the Rams'
Greatest Show on Turf "The Greatest Show on Turf" was a nickname for the record-breaking offense of the St. Louis Rams during the 1999, 2000, and 2001 National Football League seasons. The offense was designed by attack-oriented offensive coordinator (during the 19 ...
offense in 1999 that led the franchise to its first
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
title in
Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 NFL season, 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champ ...
. Martz subsequently served as the head coach of the Rams from 2000 to 2005, where his teams reached the playoffs four times, won two division titles, and achieved a franchise-best 14–2 record in 2001 en route to an appearance in
Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
.


Early career

Martz played
tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...
at
San Diego Mesa College San Diego Mesa College (Mesa College or Mesa) is a public community college in Clairemont Mesa in San Diego, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges and the San Diego Community College District. It is the largest communit ...
,
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
, and
Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...
and graduated ''
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' from
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
in 1972. The following year his coaching career began at Bullard High School in
Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
. From 1974 to 1991, he was an assistant coach at seven colleges and universities, including two stints as
offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...
at
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. In 1992 Martz was hired as quarterback coach for the Los Angeles Rams and held that post through 1994. In 1995, when the team moved to St. Louis, he was served as wide receivers coach in 1995-96. Under his teaching,
Isaac Bruce Isaac Isidore Bruce (born November 10, 1972) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and a member of the 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round o ...
exploded onto the NFL scene, going from 21 receptions in 1994 to 119 and 1,781 yards in 1995 and being voted to his first Pro Bowl in 1996. Martz left the Rams in 1997 to become quarterback coach at the Washington Redskins and helped develop
Trent Green Trent Jason Green (born July 9, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for fifteen seasons. He played college football for Indiana University. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in ...
, who signed to be Rams QB in 1999, the season Martz was hired to be the offensive coordinator.


NFL coaching career


St. Louis Rams

In 1999, Martz returned to the Rams as
Dick Vermeil Richard Albert Vermeil (; born October 30, 1936) is a former American football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles for seven seasons, the St. Lou ...
's offensive coordinator. During the season, Martz's number one ranked offense scored 526 points, the fourth highest in NFL history, en route to returning the Rams to the playoffs after a 10-year absence and winning
Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 NFL season, 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champ ...
Regarding Martz's impact on the season, Vermeil stated, "I can't think, in my history of coaching, of any assistant who came into an NFL franchise and made the immediate impact that Mike Martz did." Vermeil further added, "
Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, which saw him ascend fr ...
came off the street, and he made him NFL player of the year...I have great respect for him, and I think he has great respect for me. We took a team to the Super Bowl. Without him we don't go." Quarterback
Marc Bulger Marc Robert Bulger (; born April 5, 1977) is a retired American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth r ...
said about Martz, "He was by far the smartest football mind I've ever been around. The things he was teaching was so far ahead of what others were teaching."


Head coach

Vermeil retired on February 2, 2000 (although he soon returned to coach the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...
), and Martz was promoted to the head coaching position that same day. He led the Rams to a 10–6 regular season record, but they lost in the 1st round of the playoffs to the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
31–28.
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
saw the Rams cruise to a 14–2 record (with Martz's signature, fast-paced, quick-striking offense—nicknamed "the
Greatest Show on Turf "The Greatest Show on Turf" was a nickname for the record-breaking offense of the St. Louis Rams during the 1999, 2000, and 2001 National Football League seasons. The offense was designed by attack-oriented offensive coordinator (during the 19 ...
" by the media—quarterbacked by two-time league MVP
Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, which saw him ascend fr ...
) and the
NFC West The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinal ...
title. Martz's Rams went on to win the NFC Championship against the
Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
, before losing
Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
to
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. In
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, the Rams had a see-saw season in which Kurt Warner played injured and committed an unusually high number of turnovers. Also, star running back
Marshall Faulk Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams. He is widely regarded as one of the grea ...
was no longer the factor he had been in previous years—although many critics blamed this on Martz's tendency to emphasize pass plays, at the expense of running plays. In
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
,
Marc Bulger Marc Robert Bulger (; born April 5, 1977) is a retired American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth r ...
's first full year as a starter, the Rams fielded a much-improved defense under defensive coordinator
Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...
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 double overtime. In
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, 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 as a wild-card with an 8–8 record. They had to overcome an unusual number of injuries, but still managed to beat the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
in the first round of the playoffs—making NFL history by becoming the first team with a non-winning (regular season) record to win a postseason game. The Rams would go on to lose to the
Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...
in the divisional round. The loss of defensive coordinator
Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...
, who left to become head coach of the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
—and took two of his assistant coaches with him—impacted the team's performance on the field. On October 10, 2005, Martz took a leave of absence from the Rams to treat a persistent bacterial infection in his heart. His assistant head coach,
Joe Vitt Joe Vitt (born August 23, 1954) is an American football coach who last coached for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was previously the assistant head coach and linebackers coach of the New Orleans Saints of the National Fo ...
, became the interim coach for the rest of the season, and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild chose the offensive plays. Martz told the Rams that after being examined and evaluated by his treating physician (Dr. Victoria Fraser), his illness would prevent him from performing his duties. Martz immediately announced that he would miss the rest of the season. Martz allegedly had several conflicts with the Rams' front office over the years, which reportedly came to a climax in 2005, as well. While watching a Rams game on live television while recuperating at home, Team President John Shaw prevented Martz from relaying a play call to Fairchild by phone. Despite being on leave, Martz also periodically appeared in-person at team practices late in the season. Martz was given medical clearance to coach the Rams' last regular season game, on
New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
, 2006; however, management refused to let him do so, and fired him the day after that game.


Detroit Lions

Martz interviewed for head coaching vacancies in
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
and
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. 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 The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
to be their offensive coordinator and their quarterbacks coach. In 2006, his first season, the passing game improved considerably, ranking 7th overall behind quarterback
Jon Kitna Jon Kelly Kitna (born September 21, 1972) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Central Washington ...
, who had his first 4,000-yard season at age 34. 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, expectations were high despite the previous year's disaster, and it appeared Martz's system was actually beginning to work. 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 due mostly due to seven step drops and his inability to quickly read defenses, it was still a great improvement from the year before, and sacks aside, Detroit possessed a decent passing game. Shaun McDonald was their leading receiver with 943 yards. However, the team won only one more game that season and finished 7–9. When even players began to complain of Martz's pass-happy and unbalanced offense, the Lions fired him in the offseason. However, the following season the Lions plummeted in the offensive rankings, and some players (most notably Kitna) were openly frustrated with the conservative play calling that replaced Martz' system as the Lions became the first ever 0–16 team after firing Martz.


San Francisco 49ers

On January 8, 2008, Martz signed a two-year deal to become the offensive coordinator of the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
, who hoped that a fourth offensive coordinator in four years could re-energize the offense (and, most notably, quarterback
Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...
's career). Smith would injure his shoulder in the preseason, however, and miss the entire 2008 season. Martz lobbied for journeyman
J. T. O'Sullivan John Thomas O'Sullivan (born August 25, 1979) is an American former professional gridiron football quarterback who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL), two seasons in NFL Europe and one season in the Canadian Football Leagu ...
to come in as his replacement, but O'Sullivan and the 49ers offense struggled in the first half of the season. After 49ers head coach
Mike Nolan Michael Tullis Nolan (born March 7, 1959) is a former American football coach. Nolan previously served as a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, and a defensive coordinator for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Washington Redskins ...
was fired and Mike Singletary was brought in as interim head coach, the team gave
Shaun Hill Shaun Christopher Hill (born January 9, 1980) is a former American football quarterback who played 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college fo ...
a chance to establish himself as the starting quarterback. Martz was let go as offensive coordinator after the 49ers named Singletary head coach. Singletary reportedly wanted more of a ball-control, run-oriented offense than Martz is known for crafting. San Francisco ranked 23rd out of 32 teams in points scored, 24th in total yards, 13th in passing yards per game and 22nd in net passing yards per attempt, which represents an improvement over 2007 (when San Francisco ranked dead last in all three categories), but they ranked 26th in rushing yards and last in total turnovers. However, in 2007 the 49ers only turned the ball over one fewer time than in 2008 under Martz.


Chicago Bears

On February 1, 2010, Martz was hired by the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
as their offensive coordinator. During his first year in Chicago, the Bears offense was 28th in passing and 22nd in rushing despite having no significant injuries as the Bears made the playoffs and fell seven points short of the Super Bowl. Martz was known for aggressive play-calling, and the calls for a pass-happy offense led to quarterback
Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the Van ...
getting repeatedly sacked. The issue caused Cutler to yell profanities at Martz on-air in a game against the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
in 2011. However, offensive statistics revealed that the Bears were ninth in the NFL in rushing and ninth in rushing attempts and 27th in the NFL in passing attempts for close to a 50–50% balance on offense. On January 3, 2012, Martz resigned his position with the Bears. He reportedly resigned over philosophical differences with Bears head coach
Lovie Smith Lovie Lee Smith (born May 8, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 to 2016, he served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a ...
. Martz's final year was marked by a 7–3 start until season-ending injuries to quarterback
Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the Van ...
and running back
Matt Forte Matthew Garrett Forte (born December 10, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was drafted ...
. On January 16, 2012, Martz announced his retirement from coaching. Martz eventually became an analyst for
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
and after that one season, 2012, he retired from coaching football for the time being. He interviewed for the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
' offensive coordinator position after the 2014 season, but did not get the job. Since 2015, Martz has served as the head coach of the National Team for the
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game for NFL draft-eligible college players, held annually in January. The event was founded in 2012 by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). Players predom ...
, which features some of the nation's top draft-eligible players. Martz's team has won in each of his four appearances as head coach.


Alliance of American Football

The
Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...
named Martz the head coach of the
San Diego Fleet The San Diego Fleet was a professional American football franchise based in San Diego, California, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019, with the team playing its home game ...
in 2018, making Martz the first person to coach a professional football team in the city of San Diego since Mike McCoy coached the Chargers' last season there in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
. The Fleet opened the
2019 AAF season The 2019 AAF season was the only season in the history of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began on February 9, 2019. A ten-week regular season was scheduled for each of the league's eight teams. On April 2, multiple sources indic ...
with a 15–6 loss to the
San Antonio Commanders The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football franchise based in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019. The team played their home g ...
. A week later, Martz and the Fleet recorded their first win in a 24–12 victory over the Atlanta Legends.


Personal life

Martz married his James Madison High School sweetheart Julie in 1971.


Head coaching record


NFL


AAF


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martz, Mike 1951 births Living people American football tight ends Fresno State Bulldogs football players San Jose State Spartans football coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches Pacific Tigers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Los Angeles Rams coaches Washington Redskins coaches San Diego Fleet coaches St. Louis Rams coaches St. Louis Rams head coaches Detroit Lions coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches Chicago Bears coaches National Football League announcers National Football League offensive coordinators High school football coaches in California Junior college football coaches in the United States Sportspeople from Sioux Falls, South Dakota San Diego Mesa Olympians football players