How different is
Scott Linehan from Mike Martz?
While doing research on the two of them, I found they had a lot in common.
Both are aggressive play callers
Both were quarterback coaches
Both use a pass-first philosophy
Both like using Tight Ends for blocking
Both like to call the offensive plays
Relationship with the players
Martz is a demanding coach who expects a great deal out of his players. Martz would throw players in his doghouse for poor play, poor attitude, off field conduct issues, or maybe just to toughen them up. Martz was never an easy coach, but he seemed to have earned most of the player’s respect. Maybe not Kyle Turley’s respect, but most of them actually seemed to enjoy playing for Martz.
Martz was attracted to quality players who were well grounded and versatile. One of Martz’s quirks was his desire to move players around into new positions. Sometime this worked, but often it did not.
I don’t know Linehan’s style with the players as well, but it appears to be more laid back. I don’t think he has a dog house. He certainly is drawn to players that he has worked with in the past since he keeps acquiring players from his past. Gus Frerotte is one of those players. He has been with Linehan in Minnesota for 2003 and 2004 and in Miami for 2005. Now Frerotte is a Ram. Linehan must like Frerotte a lot to bring him along to a third team.
Linehan’s moral compass swings freely. He seems to have no trouble working with some of the mildly tainted players. This may bring changes to the Rams in the future, as more players are brought in without Martz's quality stamp of approval.
Does anyone remember the Minnesota Vikings “Love Boat” Sex Scandal from last year? I won’t go into details since we have a pretty young audience, but that sort of scene speaks volumes about the character of the players on the team. I can’t imagine the Rams getting into that sort of trouble especially with Martz around. I know that Linehan was not with the Vikings in 2005, but the character of the players does not change that quickly. Do you know that our new RB Moe Williams was one of the few charged in the “Love Boat” incident? Linehan still likes Moe and now he is a Ram.
I am guessing that off field behavior does not matter so much to Linehan.
In Miami last season, Ricky Williams played for Linehan after quitting the team the season before and after several drug suspensions. Ricky has been named “the quitter” by some of the dolphin faithful. Would Martz let “a quitter” play for his team, or would “ a quitter” be stuck in his dog house forever?
Positive changes
I’ll end this little comparison on a positive note.
I have read that Linehan will make a few keys changes which should help the offense. A simplified playbook will be used. Running plays will be called more frequently and
Steven Jackson’s name will be called more often. Bulger may be a allowed to use audible play calling, which simply means that he can change a play by calling out signals at the line of scrimmage, which should equate to fewer sacks and less scrambling.
With the departure of Mike Martz we can hope for better use of timeouts, less arguing with the officials over silly issues, less fighting with the front office, and an actual two minute offense that has some hope of scoring. We may even get a better post game review and team comments from Linehan since Linehan seems more comfortable talking to the press.
Let’s hope that Linehan brings positive changes to the Offense and gives Bulger some protection.
Linear Mode
