Shaw must end turmoil, dump Martz quickly

[RamWraith]

By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Oct. 26 2005

For a newspaper columnist who also hosts a radio show, the intensifying
friction between Rams President John Shaw and exiled head coach Mike Martz is
valuable sports-talk gold.

A quick review: Shaw blocked the ailing Martz from phoning assistant coach
Steve Fairchild during Sunday's game with New Orleans. Monday afternoon, Martz
withdrew from coaching for the rest of the season to help expedite his recovery
from a bacterial infection of a heart valve. Martz vowed to return in 2006, but
Shaw would not guarantee Martz's job security.

Tuesday morning, in a remarkably candid interview on my KSLG (1380 AM) talk
show, Martz criticized Rams management on a number of fronts. He said his Rams
bosses had broken numerous promises to him, including an agreement to allow
Martz to set up a pro personnel department. Martz said he wasn't sure if he
could continue to work with his nemesis - Jay Zygmunt, the president of
football operations. Martz said he was angry over his intercepted call to
Fairchild. Martz said he'd been reassured by Rams owner Georgia Frontiere that
he'd be her last coach, and that he could stay in the job for as long as he
wanted.

Later Tuesday, Shaw counterpunched in an interview with Post-Dispatch football
writer Jim Thomas. Shaw made it clear that he wouldn't budge if Martz tried to
dictate terms of future employment, including "who's remaining in the front
office. Who stays with the organization or doesn't stay with the organization."

Translation: Shaw isn't about to dump Zygmunt to appease Martz.

And concerning a contract extension for Martz, Shaw said, "In my mind, we need
to address the issue as to whether we would even offer an extension to a head
coach who hasn't coached here this year."

Wow. The Rams will hold Martz's illness against him?

Again, this is great material for columns and talk shows. But our selfish
interests aside, the attacks and counterattacks are making both sides look bad.

Martz is finished as the Rams' head coach. So let's end the pretense.

What Martz wants, Shaw won't give. And Shaw is the boss. Shaw has fired coaches
before, and he probably will fire coaches again. Period. End of discussion. End
of an era.

The franchise's image and reputation already are tarnished by this soap opera.
And the public feuding will only worsen the damage.

If Shaw fires Martz now, surely there will be some nasty publicity. But Martz
has been showing plenty of fighting spirit lately, so it's not as if he's
hooked up to tubes in a hospital bed. It's not as if Shaw has to sneak in and
slip termination papers under the pillow of an unconscious and feeble coach.

This can be done, straight up. Martz knows the deal. He realizes he's trying to
force Shaw into making this decision. So enough, already.

This team already has a mushroom cloud of controversy hanging over Rams Park.
Another few more days won't matter, because the Shaw-Martz conflict still is
fresh. But if Shaw waits a couple of months and THEN fires Martz, it sets off
another huge mushroom cloud, and another extensive cycle of negative news and
commentaries.

The sooner Shaw acts, the sooner he can put the Martz controversy behind him
and begin to repair the damage. But if Shaw delays now, only to ignite another
storm much later when he inevitably dumps Martz, two things probably will
happen:

(1.) The search for a new coach will get off to a slow start.

(2.) Potential coaching candidates will shy away from the new outbreak of
turmoil at Rams Park.

As is, Shaw will find it difficult to sell this job to the most attractive
candidates. Coaches want power and clearly defined parameters in an
organizational structure. Why would a promising coach volunteer for hazardous
duty at Rams Park?

As part of hiring a new coach, Shaw must re-establish boundaries, which are
terribly blurred right now. If Shaw doesn't want to fire Zygmunt, it's because
of loyalty; their working partnership has lasted nearly 25 years.

That said, Zygmunt needs to back off. A former salary-cap specialist, Zygmunt
now is acting out some fantasy-coach kick. He's in the coach's booth on Sunday,
literally peering over the shoulders of Rams assistant coaches. He's on the
practice field, asking to see the game-plan scripts. Zygmunt can play a
valuable role in the organization. But Zygmunt isn't a coach, and he isn't a
football personnel guru.

And no potential head coach of sound mind would take this Rams job with the
football "Jay Z" stomping around, playing the role of Mike Ditka. It's crazy.

If Shaw doesn't want Martz as his coach, the time has come to end this madness.
And unless Shaw cleans up the muck and the muddle inside Rams Park, no
reputable head-coaching aspirant will cast his future with a dysfunctional
franchise.

[UtterBlitz]

Zygmunt seems out of line to me. Is Shaw a wimp or what? Why doesn't he control the way the front office operates?

This is ridiculous that Martz has to go to the media to air his issues.

[dgr828]

"AS THE RAMS WORLD TURNS!"

WHAT A GREAT SOAP OPERA!

[thoey]

Martz said he'd been reassured by Rams owner Georgia Frontiere that he'd be her last coach, and that he could stay in the job for as long as he wanted.

This might be the only reason I will say:

FIRE MARTZ NOW

Then, maybe, we can get a REAL owner.

:tongue: LOL

[HUbison]

He said his Rams
bosses had broken numerous promises to him, including an agreement to allow
Martz to set up a pro personnel department.

This one still boggles me. Why would any FO not want this department established? Is there anyone out there that still wants to blame Martz for drafts and FA when he can't even get his FO to do their part?

But if Shaw delays now, only to ignite another
storm much later when he inevitably dumps Martz, two things probably will
happen:

(1.) The search for a new coach will get off to a slow start.

(2.) Potential coaching candidates will shy away from the new outbreak of
turmoil at Rams Park.

I hate to say it, but this is now inevitable. What coach will want this job now?

That said, Zygmunt needs to back off. A former salary-cap specialist, Zygmunt
now is acting out some fantasy-coach kick. He's in the coach's booth on Sunday,
literally peering over the shoulders of Rams assistant coaches. He's on the
practice field, asking to see the game-plan scripts. Zygmunt can play a
valuable role in the organization. But Zygmunt isn't a coach, and he isn't a
football personnel guru.

And no potential head coach of sound mind would take this Rams job with the
football "Jay Z" stomping around, playing the role of Mike Ditka. It's crazy.

Is there any question as to who is destroying this team? I suppose the Martz haters will bash him for this too.

[txramsfan]

Everyone talks about Martz being egotistical, but outside of Tony Dungy what coach DOESN'T come off egotistical? You mean to tell me that Jon Gruden is not as egotistical as Martz?

Where I'm going with this is coaches will jump at the chance to become the next HC of the Rams. This front office has won before with turmoil, so why couldn't they do it again? All coaches have a strong ego, they have to. And with that comes the confidence of "yea, I'll take the Rams job and I'll outwork everyone to make it successful".

[HUbison]

Where I'm going with this is coaches will jump at the chance to become the next HC of the Rams. This front office has won before with turmoil, so why couldn't they do it again? All coaches have a strong ego, they have to. And with that comes the confidence of "yea, I'll take the Rams job and I'll outwork everyone to make it successful".

tx, I appreciate what you're saying, but after all this do you think Shaw/Zygmunt would even consider a coach that didn't bow to their wishes? I think every guy they bring in will be measured for capatability with regards to the FO. If they think he could be like Martz (ie. want to make decisions), I don't see him getting past the free lunch and a handshake as they send him back to Lambert Airport.

[txramsfan]

They are successful businessmen running a multi-million dollar organization. They have never really had a coach be a yes man, well maybe Rich Brooks, but Vermeil certainly wasn't and neither was Martz. They are going to have to give somewhat, as all front office's do and there for awhile they did give some leeway to Martz.

Honestly, I think the media caused alot of the friction. Perception tends to be 90 percent of reality. If the perception of the media is Martz is a lunkhead, and that translates into the media harping on Martz constantly that does not tend to bold well in upper managements perception. Martz can be stubborn, we all know that. I just wonder if Shaw/Zygmut asked Martz to attempt to correct his public perception and he balked, thus causing some friction inside. I don't know.

[viper]

What a sad state of affairs. Here we are trying to salvage our season while being subjected to the latest version of "As the Stomach Churns." The players don't need this distraction right now.

I don't know what the answer is, but, they should never have let it get out to the public...very unprofessional.

[HUbison]

They are successful businessmen running a multi-million dollar organization. They have never really had a coach be a yes man, well maybe Rich Brooks, but Vermeil certainly wasn't and neither was Martz. They are going to have to give somewhat, as all front office's do and there for awhile they did give some leeway to Martz.

Honestly, I think the media caused alot of the friction. Perception tends to be 90 percent of reality. If the perception of the media is Martz is a lunkhead, and that translates into the media harping on Martz constantly that does not tend to bold well in upper managements perception. Martz can be stubborn, we all know that. I just wonder if Shaw/Zygmut asked Martz to attempt to correct his public perception and he balked, thus causing some friction inside. I don't know.

I hope you're right, tx. Maybe I'm just being too cynical, but I can't get rid of the nagging feeling that Shaw/Zygmunt's priorities will be:

1. Someone submissive to the FO
2. Someone that will win

Again, I hope like everything that I'm wrong.

[MoonJoe]

You know it's funny how things run in cycles, this whole affair is eerily reminiscent of the early 90's when the team was in turmoil before the move to St. Louis. Shaw basically runs the team for Georgia. He always has. Back then people were talking about he doesn't understand football and he should turn the team over to someone who does and just worry about picking up the ticket money on game day. He was also very two faced, he would tell the media about how much he wanted to keep the team here, but his hands were tied. In the meantime he scores Georgia a quarter of a billion dollars to move the team to St. Louis. This is the bad side of the Rams that I have never liked, I guess this is how a Raider fans with a conscience feels (there a few) feel about Al Davis. Basically the organization is a business and it is being run by a business man with eye on the bottom line for an owner who appreciates the spending money. The trouble with only worrying about the money is they forget the game. They have no love for the game, only for themselves and how they look. And with that ,they will always look bad because it is about the game, not about them. Man, I hated those days and I hate these days too. I like Martz as crazy as he is because he makes the game fun, Shaw and Frontier, or however she spells it now, make it painful......


Maybe Mike can coach my new second team, the Los Angeles Saints of Anaheim!!

Joe

[Curly Horns]

Better scenario:

Georgia should end turmoil and dump shaw quickly.

or better yet:

Someone with big bucks should buy out Georgia and show that %#@&$ how to run a FOOTBALL organization.

[RAMMAN68]

So why doesn't our fearless owner take charge and straiten this mess up.

If I were the owner, signing everyones pay check I would put an end to this. If Shaw has that much power that even the owner has no say, then all is lost.

I say we all here at the Clan pitch in and buy the team. :clanram:

[thoey]

I hope you're right, tx. Maybe I'm just being too cynical, but I can't get rid of the nagging feeling that Shaw/Zygmunt's priorities will be:

1. Someone submissive to the FO
2. Someone that will win

Again, I hope like everything that I'm wrong.

I wonder if Dave Campo is still available...

:O

[PTHOR]

I don't hate Martz, but he sucks as a head coach!

With the talent we have on this team, we should be one of the best in the NFL, but look at us- struggling with lame teams!

Find a replacement!