ESPN.com is reporting that Mike Martz is contemplating joining the Detroit Lions as offensive coordinator. My reaction? Fear. Surprise. Hope. Mostly fear, though.
Martz is by most accounts an offensive genius. However, like many with the "genius" label, Martz is also considered a mad genius. He falls in love with his own offensive schemes no matter how wild they may be. (Double reverse on the goal line? No problem for Martz. Sure, it has almost no chance of working, but it was a surprising call.)
Now, before I get too whacky thinking about why Martz is running a four receiver set on fourth and goal on the one, I'm going to take a deep breath and wonder if Martz is really coming. This guy was just a head coach. Does he really want to play second fiddle to a rookie head coach? Even though the talk radio would be outstanding and the press would be able to mail in the '06 season if Martz arrived, the stories would write themselves, does an offensive genius really want to take direction from a man that's never even be a head coach before?
On the positive side, you do have to wonder what Martz could to with Joey Harrington and the cadre of receiving potential now on the Lions payroll. Could Detroit become The Greatest Show on Turf, Part II? Look at the numbers Martz' offense compiled in St. Louis. If he was given a Buddy Ryan-like pass by Marinelli (you do your thing, I'll do mine), could Martz actually make the Lions offense entertaining? Dare I say "Productive"?
This whole idea frightens me. It could be an absolute disaster. Typical Lions. Or it could be a stroke of genius. Mad genius.
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