Bears Coach Lovie Smith removes OC Mike Martz over "philosophical differences" - NFL News
The rumours came true and Coach Lovie Smith made the decision to relieve offensive coordinator Mike Martz of his duties in an announcement by President Ted Phillips on Tuesday.
The decision finally confirmed what most people were already thinking even though as early as Monday Coach Lovie Smith refused to delve into the matter during his press conference.
The decision to remove Martz was part of a raft of changes in the Coaching and Personnel department of the Chicago Bears with general manager Jerry Angelo and quarterbacks Coach Shane Day also removed from their positions as the franchise looks to rebuild
ahead of the new regular season.
"He decided today. That was Lovie's decision," Phillips said. "He's always had the decision making authority on his coaching staff and that's going to stay the same way. Lovie met with Mike, they had some philosophical differences and a parting of the ways.
That's the way to put it."
The offensive coordinator’s future was in the air throughout the season as his contract was about to expire by the end of this year but Coach Lovie Smith had been adamant throughout the season that Martz was not going anywhere.
Martz had been linked with head coaching roles from various college teams and with ambiguous statements coming from the Bears the rumour mill kept churning out reports on the offensive coordinator’s future with the franchise.
Coach Lovie Smith also talked about the decision to let Martz leave and said that the decision was taken due to philosophical differences.
"After meeting with Mike this afternoon, we both felt it was best to move in different directions," Smith said. "I appreciate the job he and Shane did for us over the last two years."
Mike Martz is known for his complex offense plays and unconventional tactics. The Bears offense this year was ninth overall in rushing yards even through injuries to star running back Matt Forte. The failure however, to qualify for the postseason in addition
to the offense’s shortcomings after the injury to quarterback Jay Cutler could have led Lovie Smith to decide that a change of direction was required.
Martz on his part repeated the difference of philosophy line and did not want to delve deeper into the decision in an interview with
ESPN.
"It's a real difference of philosophy," Martz said.
The Bears snapped their five-game losing streak that had crushed their hopes of reaching the playoffs, last week after beating the Minnesota Vikings 17-13. The franchise will now begin searching for new Coaches to hopefully bring them back into contention
for the Championship in 2012.
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