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Monday, May 29, 2006 By Tom Kowalski
ALLEN PARK -- The original idea for this story was a simple one.
Since Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz is refusing to do interviews -- he apparently doesn't want to draw attention to himself -- the next best thing was to interview the players he's coaching. So, in a sampling of offensive players, the request was to describe Martz in 25 words or less.
The comments were redundant and fascinating at the same time and they also revealed an amazing aspect of Martz's approach to calling plays -- even in practice.
Most of the players attempted to stay within the 25-word guideline but it became clear that when the subject is Martz and offensive football, two dozen words aren't enough.
"He's an offensive genius. His offense . . . I've never seen anything like it, even on film," said Lions backup tight end Casey FitzSimmons. "He's a perfectionist. I don't want to toot his horn, but the guy's brilliant.
"He's demanding, which is what a coach should be. He's coaching, he's trying to make us better, he's not letting things slide through the cracks any more.."
That coaching will continue this week as the Lions hold their mandatory three-day minicamp beginning Wednesday.
"He's got the smartest offensive mind I've been around in my six years in the league," said Lions center Dominic Raiola, who also played under West Coast coaches Marty Mornhinweg and Steve Mariucci.
"Mooch has a good offensive mind and Marty does, too, but this detail . . . they had detail, but this is `detail,' from the start of the huddle to the end of the play. And he lets you know about it," Raiola said. "His standards are very high and I think that's what separates him from others -- he's not afraid to call you out and tell you you're messing up in front of others."
Third-round draft pick Brian Calhoun, a running back from Wisconsin, stayed within the confines of the 25-word limit. He is, after all, a rookie.
"Twenty-five words or less? I can give you three. Genius. Perfectionist. Hard," Calhoun said.
Offensive tackle Rex Tucker, who recently signed with Detroit as an unrestricted free agent, played for the St. Louis Rams last season during Martz's final year there as head coach.
"The thing that comes to my mind is `brilliant offensive mind.' It's just how he is. His thoughts are very deep and he trusts his players to do what he wants them to do," said Tucker, adding that Martz is unlike many NFL coaches because he refuses to look at a player's limitations.
"Sometimes you'll be in a situation where a coach will say `Well, this group can't do this and that group can't do that.' He's not like that. He says `This group WILL do this and we're going to do it because it's going to work," Tucker said. "He expects players to hold themselves to the standards that he sets, and why not? A player should hold himself to those standards, too. Guys learn how to expect it."
In addition to being the coordinator, Martz is also the quarterbacks coach -- and it's well known that Martz can be brutal on his quarterbacks. When they make a mistake in practice, especially if they're repeating the same mistake, Martz will dress them down in no uncertain terms. But the quarterbacks take the abuse because they respect the motive.
"Mad scientist. That's all I really need," said second-year quarterback Dan Orlovsky, trying to stay inside the word limit. "He has the best mind I've ever been around. Great character, disciplined, diligent, stickler, perfectionist. He's hard on everybody. If you look at every coach who's ever been successful, they're hard on their players."
Said quarterback Josh McCown: "He's an unbelievable teacher and he has a great way of getting you to do what he wants to get done.
"If I get more than 25 words, just look at (a recent) practice. Some of the things he talked to me about came up again (that day) and I had a better practice. I put the work in, but it was a lot about the things he said and what he taught me that allowed me to have a better practice."
Jon Kitna, who is expected to be the Lions starting quarterback, put some of that "genius" into perspective and revealed how Martz tests himself every day at practice.
"I've always been in systems that were good systems, they had good offenses. We were ranked No. 1 in the NFL, ranked in the top five in the NFL," said Kitna, a nine-year veteran. "But it requires so much work from the quarterback position in getting out of bad plays and getting you into good ones. His philosophy is `I'll make sure we don't get into bad plays because I'm studying along with you -- I'm studying the defense and I'm seeing their tendencies.' He's playing a chess game and he's staying a step ahead of them and it's amazing."
That chess game never ends. Common practice among NFL teams is for offensive coaches to script practices, calling plays against pre-determined defenses so coaches can get an idea of how they'll work. Martz, though, has no idea what kind of defense he's going to face from play to play during practice, putting himself under pressure to quickly call the right play.
"He doesn't know (what defense they'll be playing), but he gets a feeling and he'll change the play and it'll be the right play. It's the way he's always attacking," Kitna said. "He figures it out. It's not what he sees, it's what he feels is coming. I've been in places where they try to match that up and they think they're going to do something and then they call a play and put all their eggs into that basket. He'll call a play thinking he's going to get that, but if he doesn't, he has an out built into the play."
It's also common for NFL teams to have "check with me" plays, in which the quarterback, at the line of scrimmage, has the option to change a play into another "sister" play. Martz doesn't allow that. For every play he calls, there is another play already built into it and it's up to all of the players to recognize when a change must be made. And, if they fail in recognition or execution, Martz lets them hear about it.
"When you first get here, you're like `Uh-oh,' " McCown said. "After a while, you understand that he's putting pressure on you because the pressure you feel when you step into the game won't change. You'll have the same type of atmosphere and that's what he tries to create.
"You have to be on your toes every practice, every snap, and that is very rare in this league. He's special as a coach, he's very demanding. But, in turn, you can see what his offenses are capable of doing."
LINK
ALLEN PARK -- The original idea for this story was a simple one.
Since Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz is refusing to do interviews -- he apparently doesn't want to draw attention to himself -- the next best thing was to interview the players he's coaching. So, in a sampling of offensive players, the request was to describe Martz in 25 words or less.
The comments were redundant and fascinating at the same time and they also revealed an amazing aspect of Martz's approach to calling plays -- even in practice.
Most of the players attempted to stay within the 25-word guideline but it became clear that when the subject is Martz and offensive football, two dozen words aren't enough.
"He's an offensive genius. His offense . . . I've never seen anything like it, even on film," said Lions backup tight end Casey FitzSimmons. "He's a perfectionist. I don't want to toot his horn, but the guy's brilliant.
"He's demanding, which is what a coach should be. He's coaching, he's trying to make us better, he's not letting things slide through the cracks any more.."
That coaching will continue this week as the Lions hold their mandatory three-day minicamp beginning Wednesday.
"He's got the smartest offensive mind I've been around in my six years in the league," said Lions center Dominic Raiola, who also played under West Coast coaches Marty Mornhinweg and Steve Mariucci.
"Mooch has a good offensive mind and Marty does, too, but this detail . . . they had detail, but this is `detail,' from the start of the huddle to the end of the play. And he lets you know about it," Raiola said. "His standards are very high and I think that's what separates him from others -- he's not afraid to call you out and tell you you're messing up in front of others."
Third-round draft pick Brian Calhoun, a running back from Wisconsin, stayed within the confines of the 25-word limit. He is, after all, a rookie.
"Twenty-five words or less? I can give you three. Genius. Perfectionist. Hard," Calhoun said.
Offensive tackle Rex Tucker, who recently signed with Detroit as an unrestricted free agent, played for the St. Louis Rams last season during Martz's final year there as head coach.
"The thing that comes to my mind is `brilliant offensive mind.' It's just how he is. His thoughts are very deep and he trusts his players to do what he wants them to do," said Tucker, adding that Martz is unlike many NFL coaches because he refuses to look at a player's limitations.
"Sometimes you'll be in a situation where a coach will say `Well, this group can't do this and that group can't do that.' He's not like that. He says `This group WILL do this and we're going to do it because it's going to work," Tucker said. "He expects players to hold themselves to the standards that he sets, and why not? A player should hold himself to those standards, too. Guys learn how to expect it."
In addition to being the coordinator, Martz is also the quarterbacks coach -- and it's well known that Martz can be brutal on his quarterbacks. When they make a mistake in practice, especially if they're repeating the same mistake, Martz will dress them down in no uncertain terms. But the quarterbacks take the abuse because they respect the motive.
"Mad scientist. That's all I really need," said second-year quarterback Dan Orlovsky, trying to stay inside the word limit. "He has the best mind I've ever been around. Great character, disciplined, diligent, stickler, perfectionist. He's hard on everybody. If you look at every coach who's ever been successful, they're hard on their players."
Said quarterback Josh McCown: "He's an unbelievable teacher and he has a great way of getting you to do what he wants to get done.
"If I get more than 25 words, just look at (a recent) practice. Some of the things he talked to me about came up again (that day) and I had a better practice. I put the work in, but it was a lot about the things he said and what he taught me that allowed me to have a better practice."
Jon Kitna, who is expected to be the Lions starting quarterback, put some of that "genius" into perspective and revealed how Martz tests himself every day at practice.
"I've always been in systems that were good systems, they had good offenses. We were ranked No. 1 in the NFL, ranked in the top five in the NFL," said Kitna, a nine-year veteran. "But it requires so much work from the quarterback position in getting out of bad plays and getting you into good ones. His philosophy is `I'll make sure we don't get into bad plays because I'm studying along with you -- I'm studying the defense and I'm seeing their tendencies.' He's playing a chess game and he's staying a step ahead of them and it's amazing."
That chess game never ends. Common practice among NFL teams is for offensive coaches to script practices, calling plays against pre-determined defenses so coaches can get an idea of how they'll work. Martz, though, has no idea what kind of defense he's going to face from play to play during practice, putting himself under pressure to quickly call the right play.
"He doesn't know (what defense they'll be playing), but he gets a feeling and he'll change the play and it'll be the right play. It's the way he's always attacking," Kitna said. "He figures it out. It's not what he sees, it's what he feels is coming. I've been in places where they try to match that up and they think they're going to do something and then they call a play and put all their eggs into that basket. He'll call a play thinking he's going to get that, but if he doesn't, he has an out built into the play."
It's also common for NFL teams to have "check with me" plays, in which the quarterback, at the line of scrimmage, has the option to change a play into another "sister" play. Martz doesn't allow that. For every play he calls, there is another play already built into it and it's up to all of the players to recognize when a change must be made. And, if they fail in recognition or execution, Martz lets them hear about it.
"When you first get here, you're like `Uh-oh,' " McCown said. "After a while, you understand that he's putting pressure on you because the pressure you feel when you step into the game won't change. You'll have the same type of atmosphere and that's what he tries to create.
"You have to be on your toes every practice, every snap, and that is very rare in this league. He's special as a coach, he's very demanding. But, in turn, you can see what his offenses are capable of doing."
LINK