Is Mike Martz a good coach?

albionmoonlight · 01-12-2005, 02:45 PM

Every game I see him coach, I think, "that man is a bad coach."

But I wish that my Saints had the success over the past few seasons that the Rams have had.

I'm confused.

Maple Leafs · 01-12-2005, 02:48 PM

No.

He may very well be a good offensive co-ordinator, though.

vtbub · 01-12-2005, 02:48 PM

I wouldn't think he's even worth that.

He's an excellent QB/WR coach.

Radii · 01-12-2005, 02:48 PM

I think, at minimum, that Martz is the worst coach I have ever seen in terms of clock and timeout management.

I think his comment a few years ago that they don't mind turnovers because they'll score so much more by taking more chances did nothing to help his image.

That's about as nice as I can be. I don't think there's another coach in the NFL that i expect to blow games like I do with martz.

Fonzie · 01-12-2005, 02:49 PM

QuikSand · 01-12-2005, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

No.

He may very well be a good offensive co-ordinator, though.

Yup.

albionmoonlight · 01-12-2005, 02:50 PM

I agree with all of you.

Which leads to what I think my real question is: How do the Rams keep getting to the playoffs?

cthomer5000 · 01-12-2005, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I agree with all of you.

Which leads to what I think my real question is: How do the Rams keep getting to the playoffs?

Pure talent on offense is my guess.

Bad coach, great coordinator.

Joe · 01-12-2005, 02:56 PM

he's an idiot. I can only dream of the bad coaching decisions a Vikings/Rams game would bring.

SunDancer · 01-12-2005, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I agree with all of you.

Which leads to what I think my real question is: How do the Rams keep getting to the playoffs?

Helps when the rest of your conference foes doesn't come out to play either.

jbmagic · 01-12-2005, 03:08 PM

if you ask Mike Martz who the best coach is, he will tell you he is the best

Buzzbee · 01-12-2005, 03:22 PM

Interesting. The main thing people seem to have a comment about is his timeout/clock management decisions. I'm curious, not being particularly familiar with Martz, do these screw ups really offset any other positives Martz brings to the table? Or is this area the one that exemplifies all the negatives? Could the fact that these types of decisions are the ones that are the most obvious, and under the most scrutiny be a large reason Martz is seen as a bad coach? Or perhaps it's that he has never improved in this area, and still makes the same mistakes over and over again that have earned him this title? I'm just trying to figure out why inability to manage the clock makes one a bad coach, when there are so many other aspects of being a coach.

I think of Mark Richt at the University [sic] of Georgia. His first year there were several games where his clock management was called into question. It was a black mark on a rather solid year. Since then he has demonstrated that he learned from those mistakes and got better. I believe he is generally viewed as a very good coach. Would Martz have a better reputation if he had simply worked on and improved this aspect of his coaching?

cthomer5000 · 01-12-2005, 03:26 PM

I think another major criticism of Martz is that he has a pretty large tendency to ignore glaring matchup and gameplan advantages in favor of doing what he wants to do (passing!).

In the few games I see each year, he generally does make a few mystifying decisions.

ISiddiqui · 01-12-2005, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buzzbee

Would Martz have a better reputation if he had simply worked on and improved this aspect of his coaching?

Partially, yes. It would indicate that Martz realizes he has flaws as a coach and was working to fix them. It's indictive of the bigger problem with Martz. He's very unflexible. He doesn't realize his coaching has flaws and even when he should be adapting his gameplan for a team with a different defensive style, he'll still do what he wants.

rkmsuf · 01-12-2005, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Partially, yes. It would indicate that Martz realizes he has flaws as a coach and was working to fix them. It's indictive of the bigger problem with Martz. He's very unflexible. He doesn't realize his coaching has flaws and even when he should be adapting his gameplan for a team with a different defensive style, he'll still do what he wants.

Not only that but he can't recognize when his defense may need some help and run a different offense to consume time. Some games need to be a grind it game some don't.

Martz just says f-it. We wing it and what happens, happens. Very amateurish.

moriarty · 01-12-2005, 03:47 PM

IMO he's not a very good head coach. They're a team of 'what if's' and I think if Vermeil had stuck around they would have had a few more legitimate chances at winning the superbowl.

He may have helped revitalize Vermeil's offense in the early Rams days, but i'm not sure I would even consider him a good OC. Too many times I've seen him completely abandon the run game when they desparately could have used some balance and/or clock management. And this is 2-3 years ago when Marshall was still running well.

As for why he keeps making the playoffs .... how many teams who get to feast on Arizona, SF, and Seattle twice a year wouldn't make the playoffs. Just beating those teams gives you six wins and they only needed eight to make the playoffs.

LastWhiteSoxFanStanding · 01-12-2005, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriarty

He may have helped revitalize Vermeil's offense in the early Rams days, but i'm not sure I would even consider him a good OC. Too many times I've seen him completely abandon the run game when they desparately could have used some balance and/or clock management. And this is 2-3 years ago when Marshall was still running well.

.

may have. Vermeil has gone to KC and their offense is now just as good as the Rams, maybe even better. I would say that offensive system is more of a product of Vermeil than Martz and over time it has gotten worse with Martz because he refuses to run

Warhammer · 01-12-2005, 04:11 PM

They've also had some extremely good teams in his tenure. The 2000 and 2001 teams were both very good, the 2001 team might be the best team to have not won a SB.

However, he has made some bonehead decisions. In the SB the Pats won, why not give the ball to Faulk? Why not cut down the number of turnovers, etc? That said, part of the reason for his time management blunders is because of the way he calls in plays. If the QB goes to the line, and Martz sees something he likes in the D, he will call in a new play then. That is why they burn a lot of time outs.