Martz Out, Brown In?

The general consensus at this point is that Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz will not be back next season.  Some are saying we should know whether or not that's true by Wednesday at the latest, which makes sense just by the way the Lions normally operate.  The day after New Year's 2007, Detroit fired Donnie Henderson and made some other personnel changes all in a 24-48 hour span after January 1st, meaning we should expect the same this year.

As far as Martz's status goes, nothing is official yet, but I think both the Lions and Martz himself will welcome this "mutual breakup."  Martz probably hasn't enjoyed his time in Detroit very much and likely would welcome another fresh start (I'm hearing San Francisco is where he'll end up).  At the same time, you can bet that some Lions coaches are welcoming change as well.

Rod Marinelli specifically will be happy to get a new offensive coordinator that runs a more balanced offense.  Mike Martz seemed to give up on the run far too quickly in many games this year, and although the excuse that the Lions had to pass to play catch up was valid on a few occasions, there were other times when it was all passing from the start.

If Martz does indeed leave, then what will I remember from his time in Detroit?  I'd say that we got to see Jon Kitna throw for over 4,000 yards in back-to-back seasons and also were teased with the possibility of a high-powered offense that hardly ever proved to live up to the hype.  I don't fault Martz completely for any of the offense's struggles simply because anyone would have trouble with the horrific offensive line the Lions have, but in the end this will be a good move for Detroit if they go out and fix their o-line.

As of right now there is really only one name being thrown out there as a replacement for Martz, and that is Lions wide receivers coach Kippy Brown.  If you have no idea who Brown is, then read his Wikipedia page really quickly and you will learn quite a bit.  I really wouldn't like this move simply because I think the Lions can do better, but in the end expect Brown to get the job.  

The man that I'd like to see come in and take over as offensive coordinator is a certain head coach in Miami who will likely be unemployed pretty soon.  Of course I'm talking about Cam Cameron, who was a great OC in San Diego before taking the head coaching job at Miami.  Bill Parcells likely will fire him after a 1-15 season, and I would love to have him as the Lions' OC.