A few years ago, I sat in Mike Martz's office, which is quite larger than my living room. His eyes were red. His voice was resigned. "Don't get into coaching," he told me, as if I were about to. "It's not worth it."
I thought about that this weekend when I saw Martz quoted saying that national media types are always after his head. "You can't help but hear it in the national media, and yeah, I am puzzled by it," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "But I understand that my personality may be such that I rub some people the wrong way."
I'm puzzled by questions of Martz's job security, too. After all, since 2000, when Martz took over as head coach (after he was virtually the head coach in the Rams' 1999 Super Bowl win) he has a 51-29 record. Bill Belichick has a 53-27 record, just for comparison's sake. In his time as offensive coordinator and head coach, he's produced two Pro Bowl quarterbacks (Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger, both of whom came to the Rams after being cut elsewhere), the then-highest-rated quarterback ever (Warner), three-straight league MVPs (Warner, Marshall Faulk, Warner), two Super Bowl appearances and one ring, and an offense that holds records for most points and yards produced in a three-year span. Of course, he's also produced a few bust defensive linemen, but what can you say? Everyone thought they were good picks when he made them.
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