The two biggest criticisms of Mike Martz when he was the Lions offensive coordinator were that his offense was too complex at times and that his gameplans had little consistency. Those were just a couple of the factors that led to him losing his job, so new offensive coordinator Jim Colletto is really going to try to do some things completely opposite of Martz.
Colletto already is stressing that the quarterback will have control of the offense, which is something Martz was heavily again. Under Martz, Jon Kitna rarely audibled, which really was a bad thing at times. Colletto, on the other hand, seems ready to give the quarterback, whether it is Kitna or not, much more control in-game. That means that if the QB sees something that needs to be changed, rather than stick only to the play call, he has the option to change things up.
Aside from giving the QB more control, Jim Colletto also is going to make the offense simpler. Once again, that is the complete opposite of Mike Martz's philosophy, who ran a very complex system. Although there is no doubting that complexity is a great thing at times, making things simpler can also work well. I'm not saying that the Martz system was too confusing for the players or anything like that, but it was obvious that the players on this team just didn't like the system very much. Simplifying the offense can only be a good thing.
The final thing that Colletto is going to change is the competition for the starting quarterback position. When Martz was the OC, there was no competition as Jon Kitna was really handed the job. With Colletto, he is saying that Kitna is the same as every other player, and I like that attitude a lot. Now, are any of the backups good enough to actually take over the starting position? Not at all right now. Still, the simple fact that Kitna isn't guaranteed to be the starter regardless of what happens is welcoming news.
I have said that I didn't like Colletto getting promoted because better candidates were available. Although I still think that is true, Colletto will have a chance to prove what he is made of. So far, at least off the field, I like what I'm hearing. Obviously that means nothing if the talk of changing things for the better doesn't translate to on the field success, but at least he doesn't sound completely incompetent.