Change Bears believe in

Change is what the Bears wanted when they fired offensive coordinator Ron Turner and three assistants in early January, and change is what they will get with new OC Mike Martz.

"Obviously, we know what Mike's reputation is," said Bears general manager Jerry Angelo. "He likes to throw the football. He's very aggressive in playcalling. He runs an attacking offense.

"We wanted to make change, wanted to be something different than what we were, and we just felt that Mike really presented what we considered the best plan for us."

After a search that lasted nearly four weeks, the Bears hired Martz to mastermind an offense they've entrusted to quarterback Jay Cutler, who arrived for a steep price and with major fanfare but was a major disappointment in 2009, leading the NFL with 26 interceptions.

So an offense that head coach Lovie Smith likes to believe "gets off the bus running," will now be in the hands of the pass-happy Martz, who was the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator in 2006-07, when they were last in the NFL in run-pass ratio.

"Detroit was different just because we were in situations often times where we were obliged to throw it, and that's not fun," Martz said of a squad that won just 10 games in two seasons. "It's just the way it was."

But Martz doesn't foresee that kind of pass-run discrepancy in Chicago, even though he's excited about working with a strong-armed quarterback whose physical and mental skills he clearly cherishes.

On Saturday night in Nashville, Tenn., Martz met with Cutler, who was part of the interview process, and the coach came away impressed.

"There was an instant connection," Martz said. "We just were on the same page with so many things. I really got excited.

"We were in a little classroom down there at Vanderbilt, and we were just kind of talking football, and I put a play up that was designed specifically for the Tampa Cover-2. I told him 'This is how we put it in and hit a touchdown on it.'

"He asked a question about wide-receiver splits that just kind of stopped me dead in my tracks and just showed me that he is so far ahead and on top of that type of thing. Veteran quarterbacks generally don't even ask that."

Martz, 58, helped further Smith's career when he hired Smith as his defensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams in 2001 and promoted him to assistant head coach/defensive coordinator in 2003.

So his name was immediately tossed around when Turner was fired.

Martz and Smith talked early in the lengthy process, but three other candidates were interviewed and at least three others considered before Martz made his way to Halas Hall.

Smith's former boss said he wasn't bothered by the slow pace, which was lampooned in some circles.

"Lovie was very clear that this was going to take some time. He did it the right way, especially since I got the job," Martz joked. "That's how you're supposed to do it."

Smith reaffirmed his desire to make the correct hire, even if it came at the expense of expedience or media ridicule.

"There was no rush," Smith said. "We're not playing a football game tomorrow. We wanted to look at all available candidates.

"On some of them we had to wait. We had the playoffs going on. You can't get impatient."

A fourth straight non-playoff season for the Bears will bring with it pink slips all around, so it's important the Bears' offense is ready to roll in Week 1.

Martz and Smith both believe the new playbook will be thoroughly digested by then.

"We'll be hitting on all cylinders on opening day," Martz said. "We'll be ready to go."

Smith said the complexity of Martz's playbook is often overstated.

"Perception and reality are two different things," Smith said. "We'll have our offense in place by the first game. It's not so complicated where we can't do that. I think that's a misconception for people to think that."

And Martz says it's a misconception to assume he will have Cutler filling the air with footballs in every game and in every situation.

The Rams' "Greatest Show on Turf" preferred to travel by air under Martz, but Marshall Faulk ran for more than 1,350 yards in each of Martz's first three seasons in St. Louis. Faulk also scored 37 touchdowns and averaged 5.4 yards per carry.

"You tried to take advantage of the talent that you had," Martz said. "We were always a top-10 rushing team, those first three years particularly, and we ran it very effectively.

"But really it's just about winning games and doing whatever it takes to take advantage of your strengths."

Unlike many Bears critics, Martz said he believes he has the makings of an explosive offense, even at Soldier Field, although "The Greatest Show on Dead Grass and Dirt," doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

<div class="infoBox">

<h1>More Coverage</h1>

<div class="infoBoxContent">

<div class="infoArea">

<h2>Stories</h2>

<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=355747">Bears turn attention to defensive coordinator<span class="date"> [2/1/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=355726">Martz just fine with Bears' wide receivers<span class="date"> [2/1/10]</span></a></li>

</ul>

</div>

</div>

</div>