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Full articleMartz on quarterback Joey Harrington
• Does he get a clean slate? "I'll start with Joey like we start with everybody -- like they're at ground zero, like they've never played before. I think whatever problems he's had in the past, all sins are forgiven."
• Is Harrington an NFL quarterback? "I think he is."
• Does Martz want him to compete with another veteran? "I think we all have to compete."
Martz on becoming a head coach again: "Yeah, I feel like I have unfinished business, I really do. ... I hope the opportunity comes up. I did not come here with the thought that I'm going to coach one year and then go be a head coach. If I was going to do that ... then why take this job? Why not just sit out a year and then try to do that?"
• Martz on running back Kevin Jones: "He's a very explosive player that you can hang your hat on. He really is. He's just scratching the surface. I just think there's so much potential there. When you looked at this job and looked at what was real exciting about it, I think that was probably one of the areas you would start with."
Martz praised Jones' versatility, saying Jones could carry the ball 30 times a game or carry it five and catch it 10. "We just have to shine that up a bit."
• Martz on receivers Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams: "They're going to be made to compete, or basically it's going to be very difficult for them. To get them to compete at the highest level, I know how to do that. ... They have to make that decision that they want to be a great player and they want this to be a great football team. If they'll make that decision -- all three of them -- then this could be very special."
• Martz on the offensive line: With line coach Larry Beightol, "there's no question I think we can get that solidified."
• Henderson, on his philosophy: "I'm an aggressive person. I would like this football team defensively to be aggressive. I would like them to take on my personality."
• Henderson, on defensive end Kalimba Edwards, who can become an unrestricted free agent: "That's our No. 1 priority. We've got to keep him. There's not too many guys in this league who can rush the passer like him."
Martz: I'm no miracle man
BY NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
February 17, 2006
By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
To Mike Martz, turning around the Lions' offense doesn't seem as daunting as it does to others.
"We don't need a miracle, and I'm not a miracle worker," Martz said Thursday after the Lions introduced him as offensive coordinator and Donnie Henderson as defensive coordinator.
Martz thinks the Lions have a lot of talent -- from quarterback Joey Harrington, to running back Kevin Jones, to the three top-10 picks at receiver, to the line -- and he can teach it.
"It's exciting to see the potential here and hope and think that you can help that," Martz said. "That's the challenge, and that's why you're here, the challenge of it. I think I'm up to the task. We'll see."
Martz said the new coaches had to make up their own minds about the players, so everyone would start with a clean slate -- including Harrington.
"Whatever problems he's had in the past," Martz said, "all sins are forgiven."
Many have wondered about Harrington's status, including Harrington himself, because of his past performance and his upcoming contract. Harrington is scheduled to receive a $4-million bonus if he is on the roster June 15 and a base salary of $4.45 million each of the next two years.
But the Lions haven't asked Harrington to renegotiate -- at least not yet -- and Martz and coach Rod Marinelli not only sounded like Harrington would be back, they sounded happy about it.
Asked if Harrington would be one of his quarterbacks, Marinelli said: "Yeah, he's going to be one of our quarterbacks. ... I think he's a great young talent."
Martz, who also will be the quarterbacks coach, said he had more knowledge of Harrington the college QB, who was 25-3 as a starter at Oregon and a Heisman Trophy finalist, than Harrington the NFL QB, who has gone 18-37 as a starter since the Lions drafted him third overall in 2002.
The traits Martz looks for in a quarterback are accuracy, leadership and intelligence.
"Joey coming out, we give him very high marks in all three of those things," Martz said. "That's kind of who I'm going to kind of hold in my mind of who he is -- or who potentially he is -- and see if we can't get him to that level. Then we'll just kind of go from there."
Harrington struggled in the versions of the West Coast offense run by coaches Marty Mornhinweg and Steve Mariucci. But Martz said he would watch film of Harrington only to study his mechanics.
Martz said his offense would be a "culture shock" -- different terminology, different approach, different everything -- and that would be a "nice thing" for Harrington.
"There's a book on everybody, so to speak, and sometimes you need to kind of look at their best and that's what they are," Martz said. "Whatever his best is or was, that's where he needs to be all the time. He's already shown you the fact that he can do that, so what we need to do is get him up to that level continuously every week."
Martz raved about Jones; said "this could be very special" if receivers Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams decide they want to be great; and the line had a nucleus of players that could succeed.
Marinelli said he sat in an offensive personnel meeting last month, looked at all the young talent, and told himself he had to get the best offensive coordinator in football. So he pursued Martz -- and "pursued and pursued and pursued," refusing to take no for an answer at one point.
"I owe it to these men and I owe it to this city to go get the very best man I can get," Marinelli said, "and I zeroed in on him and I just kept clawing away at it."
In 1998, the Rams went 4-12 and finished 27th in total offense. In 1999, they hired Martz as offensive coordinator, went 13-3, finished first in total offense and won the Super Bowl.
In 2005, the Lions went 5-11 and finished 27th in total offense. In 2006, they hired Martz as offensive coordinator.
Martz didn't say the Lions would do what the Rams did.
"We did not go into this in St. Louis thinking we were going to be 'The Greatest Show on Turf,' " Martz said. "It just happened. I don't know what's going to happen here."
But Martz also said: "I just kind of feel like this is going to be a real special place and time. I've been through that before."
MORE ASSISTANTS: The Lions completed their coaching staff, hiring Mike Barry as assistant offensive line coach, Clayton Lopez as defensive backs coach and Fred Reed as defensive assistant. Barry came from North Carolina, Lopez from the Oakland Raiders and Reed from Ohio University. Barry's son, Joe is Tampa Bay's linebackers coach and Marinelli's son-in-law.
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