Martz A Success In Chicago? Dick Vermeil Would Bet On It

NFL News - February 2nd, 2010 - Written by John Ritter

Former Super Bowl winner, Dick Vermeil, carefully constructed his legacy into one of the NFL's "good guys", but he would gladly bet it all on his friend, Mike Martz's, succeeding in Chicago.

"I would stake my entire reputation on their offense improving when he takes over," Vermeil said. "There's nobody out there better. Nobody in the history of the NFL has come in and did what he did as a coordinator."

Martz was hired Monday after an exhausting search by the Bears front office to find an offensive coordinator that could turn around Jay Cutler. There was apparent conflict between head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo to give him the job, particularly because Martz was critical of Cutler earlier in the year.

In an interview on NFL Network, Martz said, "he doesn't understand that he represents a great head coach and the rest of those players on that team. Somebody needs to talk to him."

But Vermeil doesn't see the conflict. After sharing the sidelines with Martz during the St. Louis Rams' only championship run, Vermeil only crooned about their time together.

But Martz has a lengthy track record of success as an offensive guru in the league, and few know that better than Vermeil, who brought him onto the staff in 1999. That year, the Rams, huge underdogs in preseason NFL Betting Lines, went from 27th-rated offense to the first, scoring the fourth-most points in league history and producing a regular season- and Super Bowl MVP-winning quarterback in Kurt Warner.

That year, Warner's first as a starter, he threw for more than 4,200 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Martz would take over as head coach in 2001, and take the Rams to the Super Bowl again.

He'll surely have his hands full in resurrecting the image of Cutler, who led the league with 26 interceptions this past season. But the two have already spent a day together in Nashville, Tenn. and had an "instant connection" together.

"Martz is tough," Vermeil said. "The quarterback has to have some substance to him. But he'll make him the best he has ever been."

Cutler has 12,690 yards in three seasons, and never previously threw more than 18 picks in a season.