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Buried in an item from Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports regarding the latest fresh start for new 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz is a back-and-forth between Martz and CEO Matt Millen regarding Martz’s performance as offensive coordinator in Detroit during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
“[Y]ou have to control what Mike is doing during games,” Millen said. “Mike is brilliant. He can break down what a defense is doing faster than anyone I have ever seen. Then, all of a sudden, he’s coming up with a bunch of new ideas about how to attack that defense right there on the spot. That’s great, but you’d sit there sometimes and wonder, ‘Hey, what happened to all the stuff we talked about Monday to Saturday?’”
Martz, of course, responded. In so doing, he threw a gratuitous barb at Millen for his habit of taking a few days off most weeks to return to his home in Pennsylvania. “How would Matt know what we were talking about Monday to Saturday since he wasn’t there Thursday to Saturday? The guys on that coaching staff know why we did that. Look, we just weren’t a good football team at that point.”
And there’s further proof of Martz’s biggest flaw: He has insufficient control over the connection between his brain and his mouth. In the past, Martz’s words (public and private) have contributed to the creation of a perception that he’s a power-mad tyrant whose only objective is to become a head coach again, and then take the place over.
The problem is that this reputation makes it nearly impossible for Martz to become a head coach again, since those who would be in a position to hire Martz would likewise then hope to not see their jobs threatened by him. Martz is smart enough to know this, and he’s saying what he can to try to reverse it.
“The stuff that has been said about me behind my back is really hurtful,” Martz told Cole. “I’m here to be the offensive coordinator and to help Mike [Nolan] and this offense be better. That’s all I’m concerned about right now. I’m not thinking about being head coach again. That’s not my focus . . . all the things that people say, it really angers me because it’s not productive.”
No, it angers him because he can’t control it. And because he knows that, at a certain level, it’s accurate.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 am
I guess that Martz could always wonder aloud where the hell all that preparation that Millen does for the draft between May and March goes when the draft rolls around.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:02 am
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Millen here.
I’ve watched every Lions game when Martz was OC. I can’t count the times that the team would be running the ball well and then, out of nowhere, he’d completely abandon the run. Then, the week after he receives criticism about the abandoning the run, he calls the same run up the middle at the goal line six or seven times (Baltimore had a penalty) to make a point and gets Kevin Jones injured.
Sometimes I think he outcoaches himself.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 am
Martz has been spouting off since the minute he “left” Detroit. Actually, he and Millen were a match made in heaven because Millen can’t keep his mouth shut either…like going on Ditka’s radio show to call an unnamed Lion a “devout coward.” Or calling Johnnie Morton a f****t…not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:09 am
Good morning, Florio.
Also holding Martz back from being head coach: His performance as head coach.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
Mike Martz is a genius and yet he is banished to become just an offensive coordinator, albeit ‘Guru’… I believe that he made the Detroit Lions relevant with his vision once again… How Matt Millen keeps his job is amazing… The Lions under the Millen-nium have been just awful when in fact they should have improved immensely with those high end picks… Matt must go!
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
These guys need to both shut up and count their blessings that they are even employed. Millen is a donkey. And Martz is a know-it-all who never saw a post route he didn’t like. Their war of words is like a boxing match at the Special Olympics. At the end of the day… they’re both.. well you know.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 am
Say what you want about Martz, he’s probably a good guy away from the game and he knows offensive football, but as a head coach he proved time and again that he viewed defense and special teams as a nuisance. With that said, Al Davis probably hires him in a year or two after he gets rid of Lane Kiffin.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 am
All of that may be true about Martz sabotaging his chances to become a head coach, but it seems to me that when you hire him to run your offense, you should know that your getting the “mad genius” and not Paul Hackett. To criticize him for what is generally known to be his strength is, well, pretty stoopid, and just another lame explanation from the man with a thousand excuses.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 10:02 am
Ok seriously what is wrong with an offensive Coordinator who wants to be a head coach again someday? And if this argument comes down to comparing stats between Mike Martz and DoucheBag Matt Millen then this is not even a contest. Martz made Jon Kitna a solid quarterback. He made Mike Furrey, Kevin Curtis, Shaun McDonald and countless other players millions of dollars based on his unique vision and ability to read defenses and game plan to beat them. Am I going to trust Matt Millen’s word on anything that has to do with football decisions? Hell no!!!! Why? Because the guy has been a laughing stock of this league ever since the day he started his job.
My bet is that Mike Martz has a solid year this year with SF offense and then has them ranked in the top 15 next year. Then he will get his head coaching chance again. Because production and winning cures all of this other nonsense.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 am
Could someone refresh my memory? Was Millen still a player in Washington when Martz was the QB coach there?
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May 2nd, 2008 at 10:11 am
Good article Florio. Not a big fan of Martz but he did put that team back on the map in some respects. Millen really is a terrible GM though. The only reason he still has his job is because of what Martz did last year.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 10:20 am
Being criticized my Matt Millen for not doing your job well is like Emmitt telling you to work on your speach.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Wait, a minute, the GM is criticizing the OC for making changes during the game in response to what is actually happening in the game? This is wrong because it was not discussed during the week, you know, before the actual game was played???
Maybe Martz didn’t always make the best decisions, but at least he was trying. While Millen sat on his butt in skybox criticizing.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 am
on the flip side, millen could be smirking about how rigid martz is in
adjusting the game plan on the fly, especially when the original game plan
isn’t working… it’s easy to nitpick after the fact… hell, i’m sure even
millen has a good point in his character.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I’m obviously a Niner fan, and I hope to God that the Niners fire Mike Nolan once this season is over, and replace him with Mike Martz. I felt that change should have been made at the conclusion of this last season. Mike Nolan may be a good guy, but he is a horrible HC. Martz is the answer for the Niners, and I would be extremely dissapointed if he is not given the head coaching position after this year. Also on my wish list, Alex Smith given a plane ticket to hell.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I’m betting NinerNation thought Nolan was a great HC when he had Norv Turner as his OC. NN needs to understand the difference between being accountable for poor performance and being the cause. Millen understands the difference because he has every excuse under the sun why the Lions have done so poorly under his guidance. He’s accountable but he’s darned sure he want everyone to understand he’s not the problem. Which, of course, he is. Nolan isn’t.
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May 2nd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Please, please, please be right NinerNation. Hire Mike Martz as your HC!!! Seattle, St. Louis and Arizona fans couldn’t be given a bigger gift. What’ll happen? Yep, your offense will become more productive. Alex Smith will likely become a solid quarterback. No doubt on either of those points. But he’ll also hire some tool like Larry Marmie to run the defense, draft slackers like Jimmy Kennedy in the 1st round, never pay attention to special teams….and then blame the resultant 7-9 record on the front office. Man, the rest of the NFC West could be so lucky.
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May 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Obviously, this fight between the two M&Ms is about as relevant as whether the green or yellow M&M is better. Yeah, a brief sugar high is nice but won’t get you any substantial nourishment in the long run.
I’d refer the M&Ms to Eminem to learn ways to talk smack while actually walking smack but that would be like pouring your kid three bowls of cereal–Froot Loops, Sugar Pops, and Chocolate Captain Crunch–and saying you provided the kid a chance at a nourishing breakfast.
Why doesn’t Mike Martz just take the Hawaii head coaching job, Matt Millen over as GM of an Arena Football team and Marshall Mathers just admit he blows Froot Loops?
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May 3rd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Martz was always willing to give up on the run game, except vs. dallas last year when daytwa found a new and unique way to lose. in 7 years of millen, 31-81. this is after moeller took over for bobby ross and got them to 9-7 the year before.
correct, martz as an hc doesnt give a rat’s ass about D or special teams. and i dont see that he made kitna better, kitna has always been a borderline starting nfl qb. just in a different system now… i think mcdonald, williams, and obviously some other wideouts (and bulger/warner) are better because of martz.
millen is a joke, but it is hard to tell just how many and which decisions he gets discredit for were actually made by the old man. it has often been said about the fords (as well as a bunch of other owners) that they would be happy to win 7 to 9 games a year, be able to score points and fill the stands, make the playoffs occasionally, but not spend as much $ or effort as would be needed to become a dynasty.
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