As per Lions beat writer Tom Kowalski:
“In a move that shocked no one, the Lions fired offensive coordinator Mike Martz today. In a move that was a little more surprising, head coach Rod Marinelli has reportedly promoted both offensive line coach Jim Colletto and receiver coach Kippy Brown to the position of “co-coordinators.”
The move makes sense because Marinelli wanted to keep continuity with the offense, including the three-digit pass-route system and the overall terminology. The biggest change will come in the form of “simplifying” the offense and changing the philosophy.
Under Martz, all of the shifts, motions and multiple formations put a great deal of mental stress on the players and the Colletto-Brown duo will likely cut back on much of that. Obviously, they’ll also be less inclined to throw the ball 75 percent of the time and look for more balance with the ground game.
The “two coordinator” system was largely in place for most of the Lions season. After the Lions lost to Washington, Colletto had a minor meltdown about the lack of a running game (and the way it was being operated) and Martz basically turned over the running game to Colletto and running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery. Martz continued to call all of the plays.
That situation worked out well for the next three weeks — all victories in which the Lions ran the ball fairly well. Everything unraveled in the Arizona game, though, when coaches and players were furious with the way Martz called the running game early and then abandoned it all together. That was the beginning of the end for Martz in Detroit.
Colletto will apparently be the “official” coordinator while Brown has been promoted to assistant head coach. There has been no word yet on who will actually call the plays but since Colletto has the title, it will probably be his responsibility”
My personal feeling is that this is one of many moves the Lions need to make this offseason. It will be interesting to see how Jon Kitna responds to this decision as he openly backed the work of Martz and requested publically that Martz be kept on the staff. What is slightly confusing is the adoption of co-coordinators in Brown and Colletto. As indicated by Kowalski, it is a system that was used this season so hopefully it can be successful for the Lions going forward.
Aside from getting rid of Matt Millen, which is likely never going to happen under the guidance of owner William Clay Ford, the next best move they could make was removing Martz from the equation. Now, if only Millen could obtain some talent for this team, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
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4 Responses to “Mike Martz fired as Lions offensive coordinator”
Posted: 01/02/08 at 12:58 pm
Martz never used his running game and when he did it was effective. Did you see this coming Mark?
Kev,
Posted: 01/02/08 at 1:30 pm
This move was being rumoured for most of December as the Lions went into a slide. Too often, Martz abandoned the running game….in particular on the road.
Marinelli would much rather have a more balanced offense that can control the ball and run the clock in addition to having a decent passing attack instead of throwing the ball almost exclusively.
Posted: 01/04/08 at 9:14 am
Mark,
I can’t figure out why the Lions basically wasted Tatum Bell this season. Was it a case of them not utilizing him properly or did he just not seize his opportunity?
Posted: 01/08/08 at 8:54 am
Bell started off well, but fell out of favour with the coaching staff quickly. They preferred Duckett as the back-up to Jones. That being said, there had to be some locker room politics at play here for Bell to be placed as inactive for such a long period of time.