faba Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Raiders might talk to Martz David White, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, January 10, 2007 All was quiet at Raiders headquarters Tuesday as team officials (namely, Al Davis) plotted the next step in the search for their eighth head coach in 13 years. Davis interviewed USC assistant Steve Sarkisian on Monday and wants to interview at least two more candidates to replace Art Shell, who was fired Thursday after going 2-14 in his first season back with the Raiders. No arrangements had been finalized to bring in the next candidate, according to several team sources. The Raiders as an organization do not openly discuss job searches. One candidate to watch for is former St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz, who is interviewing for the Miami Dolphins' head-coaching vacancy today. According to a league source close to Martz, he would be "very interested" in interviewing with the Raiders for the second time in two years. A Raiders official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Martz is believed to be on Davis' short list of candidates. As of Tuesday, the Raiders had not contacted Martz for an interview. Former Giants coach Jim Fassel and Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan also are considered candidates. Former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green and San Diego Chargers assistant James Lofton also could get sit-down interviews with Davis before the process is over. Martz, who coached the Rams from 2000 through '05, is the sort of offensive mastermind some within the organization believe the Raiders desperately need after they ranked last in the NFL in offense and scoring. With the Rams, he engineered a high-flying offense dubbed the "Greatest Show on Turf." Hired as their offensive coordinator in 1999, he took an offense that was 27th in the NFL in 1998 and turned it unto the No. 1 offense in the NFL the next season, culminating in a Super Bowl victory. Their 526 points scored was fourth-best in NFL history. Promoted to head coach one year later, Martz's Rams became the first NFL team to score at least 500 points in three straight seasons. The Raiders, in stark contrast, scored 169 points with 12 offensive touchdowns this past season. That's the fewest points scored in franchise history (including the 1982 strike-shortened season) and the fifth-fewest points since the advent of the 16-game schedule in 1978 (excluding the strike season). The Rams fired Martz after the 2005 season after he missed most the season with a heart ailment. Hired to run the Detroit Lions' offense, Martz took a passing offense that was 27th in the NFL in 2005 and churned out the No. 7 passing game in the league in 2006. Unlike in St. Louis, it did not result in a magical turnaround. The Lions finished with a 3-13 record, second-worst to the Raiders. Given his track record, Martz likely would demand more say in running the team than the previous three coaches enjoyed, something more along the lines of the authority granted to Jon Gruden to make some personnel decisions during his coaching stay from 1998 through 2001. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai Jet Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Raiders might talk to Martz David White, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, January 10, 2007 All was quiet at Raiders headquarters Tuesday as team officials (namely, Al Davis) plotted the next step in the search for their eighth head coach in 13 years. Davis interviewed USC assistant Steve Sarkisian on Monday and wants to interview at least two more candidates to replace Art Shell, who was fired Thursday after going 2-14 in his first season back with the Raiders. No arrangements had been finalized to bring in the next candidate, according to several team sources. The Raiders as an organization do not openly discuss job searches. One candidate to watch for is former St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz, who is interviewing for the Miami Dolphins' head-coaching vacancy today. According to a league source close to Martz, he would be "very interested" in interviewing with the Raiders for the second time in two years. A Raiders official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Martz is believed to be on Davis' short list of candidates. As of Tuesday, the Raiders had not contacted Martz for an interview. Former Giants coach Jim Fassel and Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan also are considered candidates. Former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green and San Diego Chargers assistant James Lofton also could get sit-down interviews with Davis before the process is over. Martz, who coached the Rams from 2000 through '05, is the sort of offensive mastermind some within the organization believe the Raiders desperately need after they ranked last in the NFL in offense and scoring. With the Rams, he engineered a high-flying offense dubbed the "Greatest Show on Turf." Hired as their offensive coordinator in 1999, he took an offense that was 27th in the NFL in 1998 and turned it unto the No. 1 offense in the NFL the next season, culminating in a Super Bowl victory. Their 526 points scored was fourth-best in NFL history. Promoted to head coach one year later, Martz's Rams became the first NFL team to score at least 500 points in three straight seasons. The Raiders, in stark contrast, scored 169 points with 12 offensive touchdowns this past season. That's the fewest points scored in franchise history (including the 1982 strike-shortened season) and the fifth-fewest points since the advent of the 16-game schedule in 1978 (excluding the strike season). The Rams fired Martz after the 2005 season after he missed most the season with a heart ailment. Hired to run the Detroit Lions' offense, Martz took a passing offense that was 27th in the NFL in 2005 and churned out the No. 7 passing game in the league in 2006. Unlike in St. Louis, it did not result in a magical turnaround. The Lions finished with a 3-13 record, second-worst to the Raiders. Given his track record, Martz likely would demand more say in running the team than the previous three coaches enjoyed, something more along the lines of the authority granted to Jon Gruden to make some personnel decisions during his coaching stay from 1998 through 2001. They could do a lot worse. At least he'd get the "O" going. Of course to do that they'd need a QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Of course they are. Al Davis loves offenses who air it out and Martz is the right guy for the job seeing as Oakland has a pretty good WR core that didn't feature Jerry Porter last season and didn't have a good pass protecting OLine or a good QB for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFlaJets Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I wonder how this would affect this little blurb from today's paper.. BRIEF: There has been speculation that Oakland defensive coordinator Rob Ryan might be in play and would love to rejoin Mangini, who coached with him on the Patriots' defense from 2000-03. But a Raiders' source said Ryan isn't going anywhere. He has two years left on his contract and owner Al Davis is a big fan. Ryan will even interview for the head-coaching vacancy now that Art Shell has been fired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alk Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Martz just might be crazy enough to take this job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I wonder how this would affect this little blurb from today's paper.. BRIEF: There has been speculation that Oakland defensive coordinator Rob Ryan might be in play and would love to rejoin Mangini, who coached with him on the Patriots' defense from 2000-03. But a Raiders' source said Ryan isn't going anywhere. He has two years left on his contract and owner Al Davis is a big fan. Ryan will even interview for the head-coaching vacancy now that Art Shell has been fired. Meaning Sutton would be canned or Hermann would be canned bringing in Ryan to be the Defensive Coordinator? I would love that but he seems to coach a 4-3 system better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4HCrew Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 if Ryan does not get HC job he may be apt to leave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFlaJets Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Meaning Sutton would be canned or Hermann would be canned bringing in Ryan to be the Defensive Coordinator? I would love that but he seems to coach a 4-3 system better... I think Sutton would be re-assigned prolly back over to LBers coach-That's what I think would happen anyway.If a guy like Ryan becomes available you grab him-that after-game hug by Mangini showed a lot of how they feel about each other and I'm sure Eric would LOVE to have a guy like that helping him to move this team forward-so would I... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormshadow19 Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Whoever lines up behind center for the Raiders next season, if they hire Martz, will be killed. Literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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