No news on Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz future - NFL News
The end of the 2011 regular season has brought no clarity on the status of Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz with rumours continually circulating that he will not remain with the Chicago Bears for a third season.
Coach Lovie Smith in his press conference on Monday still did not shed any light on Martz’s future with the franchise and dodged questions on the issue.
"We're evaluating everything and Mike's a part of that," Smith said. "So I can't tell you. Mike is a guy who's been around a few years. I haven't had a chance to sit down with Mike to see exactly which way he wants to go, and which way we want to go."
The offensive coordinator has been with the Bears since the 2009 season with his contract expiring at the end of the current season. The offensive coordinator has been linked with several head coaching roles with colleges scrambling for his services but
Martz had previously publicly refuted the rumours that he was leaving.
The buzz however, has refused to die and with Coach Lovie Smith remaining silent on the issue and lack of public statements have kept the rumour mill spinning. The Bears late season collapse that saw them miss out on the postseason may also have played a
role in flaming the rumours further.
Coach Lovie Smith went on to praise Martz’s services for the Bears in his press conference and hoped that the contract situation with his offensive coordinator will be resolved soon.
"Mike did a super job for us," Smith added. "I think you guys know how I feel about him."
Things were going pretty well for the Bears in the middle of the season. With quarterback Jay Cutler at the helm the Bears were easily rolling towards the postseason with a 7-3 record by week 11 but Cutler suffered a season ending thumb fracture and from
that point on things went downhill for the franchise.
Caleb Hanie replaced Cutler at quarterback and his erratic performances saw the Bears lose four games in a row with Hanie throwing nine interceptions in his four starts and just three passing touchdowns.
Coach Smith replaced Hanie with Josh McCown against Green Bay Packers but even though the Bears offense looked better it failed to beat the Packers losing any chance of making the playoffs round.
The Bears will look to rebuild for the 2012 season and resolving the future of their offensive coordinator should take priority.
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