Former Rams head coach Mike Martz says he’s interested in becoming the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears.
Charlie Armey, who served as the Rams’ general manager while Martz was in St. Louis, would strongly urge the Bears not to hire Martz.
“I don’t think Martz would work well with Jay Cutler at all,” Armey told Melissa Isaacson of ESPNChicago.com. “He’s a terrible . . . coach, and he would ruin that kid like he ruined Kurt Warner and drove him out of St. Louis. He’s the worst thing that could happen to any young quarterback.”
In fairness to Martz, it’s fairly ridiculous to say he “ruined” Kurt Warner. The truth is, before he played for Martz, Warner had bounced around the league without accomplishing anything, and the Rams’ front office thought so little of him that they left him unprotected in the expansion draft. Then Martz came along, Trent Green got hurt, Warner became the starter, and the rest was history. If “ruining” Jay Cutler means getting him a Super Bowl ring and a couple of MVP awards, Cutler would probably appreciate being ruined.
But Armey does know what it’s like to work with Martz, and he thinks Bears coach Lovie Smith -- who was Martz’s defensive coordinator with the Rams -- will hire Martz in Chicago. That’s a decision that Armey says Smith will live to regret.
“I would guess Lovie would hire him because there’s a lot of loyalty there,” Armey said. “But I think it would be an absolute mistake, and it would shorten Lovie’s career.”