[bigboydan]

Rams fire coach Mike Martz

By JIM SALTER, Associated Press Writer
January 2, 2006



ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mike Martz was fired as coach of the St. Louis Rams on Monday after a 6-10 season in which he missed the final 11 games because of a heart ailment.

The Rams started the season 2-3 before Martz was sidelined with an infection of the heart lining. Assistant Joe Vitt replaced him for the rest of the season, which ended Sunday with a 20-10 win over Dallas that left the team at 6-10.

The 54-year-old Martz coached the Rams for more than five seasons, leading them to playoffs four times and to the Super Bowl after the 2001 season. The Rams lost the title game to New England.

Martz was under contract through 2006, when he was scheduled to earn $3.25 million.

He was hired as offensive coordinator before the 1999 season, and his "Greatest Show on Turf" offense led the Rams to that season's Super Bowl championship. He took over as coach when Dick Vermeil retired two days after the Rams beat Tennessee in the Super Bowl following that season.

His greatest skill was his knowledge of quarterbacks. Kurt Warner, a former Arena League and NFL Europe quarterback, took over in 1999 when Trent Green was injured and was voted league MVP that year and again in 2001.


After being hurt, Warner was replaced in 2002 by Marc Bulger, who held the job. Bulger, a sixth-round draft choice in 2000 by New Orleans, had been spotted by Martz before the draft and the Rams signed him when the Saints let him go.

He spent much of this season at odds with the team's front office, especially Jay Zygmunt, the president of football operations. The front-office feud was evident Oct. 23 when Martz was prevented from communicating by cell phone with the coaching staff.

Martz was 56-36, including the postseason, when he took his medical leave. He announced late in the season that he had recovered and was ready to return to coaching. He made several appearances at Rams Park, but was not allowed back on the sidelines.

This season, St. Louis missed the playoffs for just the second time since Martz took over. The other time was 2002, when the Rams finished 7-9.

[bigboydan]

it's about time the rams fired this guy.

[Illusion]

He needed to go. Great move by the Rams.

[onlooker]

No surprise here, it was bound to happen sooner or later. They just took to long to finally drop the axe on him.

[pags11]

this is one of the happiest days in my life...Martz was the worst thing to happen to the organization other than Georgia...

[bigboydan]

martz should have been fired a couple of years ago. but, the rams organization were hoping for martz to give them one more run at the super bowl.

i'm just glad they finaly realized that he ran his course in st.louis. although, i can see the chiefs bringing him in to be the next coach of KC

[isetcap]

an absolutely horrible coach...his ego caused him to continuously make blatantly bad decisions that prevented a very good team from making a dynasty run.

[Senator7]

Horrible head coach but a very good offensive coordinator. He would do very well in Oakland where Norv Turner has apparently already cleaned out his office.

[pags11]

he was never a head coach at any level until this job...he probably shouldn't be in the future either...

[BuddyBear]

never really liked this guy....he always seemed to have this arrogance about himself.