Many NFL Coaches Fired

Here are all the New Items. 3 of them LOL.

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Martz's tenure with Rams ends in dismissal
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Now that Mike Martz has medical clearance to return to coaching, he'll need to find a team.

Martz was fired as coach of the St. Louis Rams on Monday after a 6-10 season in which he missed the final 11 games because of a heart ailment. That illness did not stop him from repeated clashes with the front office, the major reason for his dismissal with a year left on his contract.

Martz's physician said Sunday he could return to work. Martz was at Rams Park the following morning getting the news, which has been anticipated for weeks, that he would not be retained for the final year of a three-year contract.

"I guess the most compelling reason was just the direction of the team," Rams president John Shaw said. "Which is a direction that we think we need to change right now."

The Rams missed the playoffs for only the second time in six seasons under Martz against a soap opera backdrop of infighting. Martz was at odds with Jay Zygmunt, director of football operations, and Charley Armey, the general manager, all season.

The situation came to a head in October when Zygmunt denied Martz telephone access to the coaching box to discuss play-calling with offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild. The next day, Martz said he didn't know if he and Zygmunt, who has been with the Rams for 24 years, could co-exist professionally.

Players tried their best to tune it all out and just play.

"There's been speculation all year about it, hanging over our heads whether it was going to happen or not," defensive tackle Ryan Pickett said. "Martz was our leader. Hearing all the rumors, it kind of bothers you."

Middle linebacker Trev Faulk learned of Martz's fate watching TV Monday morning before a team meeting.

"Personally, I've got nothing but love for coach Martz," Faulk said. "He's a great head coach and his record speaks for itself, but these things happen in the league."

Shaw hopes to hire a replacement in three or four weeks. The team has asked permission to speak to Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and Shaw said he had other candidates on playoff teams in mind, but said there was no general profile he was seeking.

Others likely under consideration are Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak.

The experience of the next coach will in part determine how much control he'll be given. No college coaches are on Shaw's list.

"I have a fairly open view about this," Shaw said. "There's a wide range of candidates."

One who's not on the list is interim coach Joe Vitt, who was 4-7 after taking over for Martz. The Rams had lost six of seven, clinching their worst season since a 4-12 record in 1998, before finishing with a 20-10 victory at Dallas on Sunday night.

The team was hamstrung by more than Martz's absence given that 10 players ended the season on injured reserve, including quarterback Marc Bulger and both starting cornerbacks.

"I think Joe, really under the circumstances, did a great job for us," Shaw said. "It's just that we really don't consider him a candidate right now."

Vitt didn't seem too surprised, considering the Rams' record under his command.

"That's what presidents do, they identify who is and who isn't," Vitt said. "We hold our players responsible and accountable and I'm being held accountable, too."

Vitt said he spoke to Martz, a close friend who was ready to move on. Neither Martz nor his agent returned a telephone message from the AP.

"I think he's looking forward to this next journey, which all football coaches go through," Vitt said. "It's that time of the year, and as a football coach you always have to say your next job is going to be your best job."

Shaw planned to meet with Martz's agent, Bob LaMonte, in the next few days to discuss a settlement to the final year of Martz's contract worth $3.25 million.

Martz is an offensive guru who helped the Rams reach two Super Bowls in a three-year span from 1999-2001, including the team's only championship as offensive coordinator after the 1999 season. His offense, highlighted by two-time MVP Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, led the NFL in scoring three straight seasons and was dubbed the "Greatest Show on Turf."

The Rams made the playoffs last year despite going 8-8, and it all unraveled this year. The team was 2-3, beginning with a season-opening loss at San Francisco, when Martz stepped down in mid-October due to endocarditis, a bacterial infection of the heart valve.

Martz was 56-36, including the postseason, when he took his medical leave.

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Texans fire first and only coach Capers
Associated Press

HOUSTON -- The worst season in Houston Texans history cost Dom Capers his job.

Owner Bob McNair fired the only coach the expansion Texans ever had Monday, a day after Houston finished its season with an NFL-worst 2-14 record.

"I'm totally committed to producing a winning team and I'm going to do everything within my power to see that we do that," McNair said. "I think that we're very close to being a good team, but we have work to do."

The Texans, who hired former NFL coach Dan Reeves as a consultant last month, will keep general manager Charley Casserly. On Monday, McNair reiterated his assertion that Reeves is not a candidate to be the next coach.

Houston's season ended Sunday with a 20-17 overtime loss in San Francisco that gave the Texans the worst mark in their four-year history and the No. 1 pick in April's draft.

"I think that we've underachieved this season," McNair said. "I think that everyone expected us to do more."

Capers had one year remaining on a five-year contract worth $9.5 million.

"I understand the job as the head football coach is to win games," Capers said. "But when you put your heart and soul into something and it doesn't work the way you want it or anticipate it to, it's disappointing."

The firing marks the second time the 55-year-old Capers has been released from an expansion team in its fourth season. He was let go by the Carolina Panthers in 1998.

His plan for building the team worked well until this season. The Texans won seven games last season after winning five in 2003 and four in their first season. Houston stunned Dallas in the franchise's first game in 2002.

Capers informed the team of his firing in a meeting several hours before McNair made the official announcement.

"It was emotional; it was difficult," offensive lineman Steve McKinney said of the morning meeting. "I felt sorry for him."

Veteran defensive end Gary Walker said he is sad to see Capers go, but isn't worried about the future of his former coach.

"Dom will have another job within a month," Walker said. "He'll be a defensive coordinator somewhere. With the right people around him, he could do some amazing things."

Houston opened this season 0-6 before beating Cleveland, then losing six more. The Texans defeated Arizona and then lost their last two games.

McNair said he decided to keep Casserly because after looking at draft picks and other personnel decisions he thought that "we made a lot more good decisions than bad decisions."

Capers was hailed as an expansion wizard after leading Carolina to seven wins in its first season and the NFC title game in the team's second year in 1996, when he was NFL Coach of the Year.

Things went downhill from there, and Capers was fired after the Panthers went 4-12 in 1998. He worked for two years as defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars before he was hired by the Texans in January 2001.

"You have to be careful and stay with your step-by-step program," Capers said at the time. "Then, you have to have the courage to stick with it and not sacrifice the future for the quick fix."

His first pro job came when he joined Jim Mora's staff with Philadelphia in the USFL. Capers made it to the NFL in 1986 when he went with Mora to New Orleans. He became defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh in 1992 before he was hired in Carolina in 1995.

McNair said when he hired Reeves he wanted an outside voice to evaluate the organization. Reeves went to four Super Bowls in 23 seasons as a head coach, mostly recently with Atlanta after the 1998 season.

McNair said that he's asked permission to interview several people and he hopes to have the interviews concluded by the end of this month.

Denver coach Mike Shanahan said the Texans owner contacted him Monday for permission to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. Kubiak played quarterback at Texas A&M, where he later served as an assistant coach.

Kubiak is hot again, though, thanks to Denver's 13-3 record and an offense ranked fifth in the NFL. And the number of openings helps his cause in attempting to take the next step as a head coach.

"If [teams are] smart, he'll get one of those jobs," Shanahan said. "I'm just hoping they're not smart enough to hire him."

Kubiak was not immediately available for comment.

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Haslett won't return as Saints head coach

SAN ANTONIO -- The New Orleans Saints acknowledged the troubles Jim Haslett faced through the hurricane-disrupted 2005 season, and praised the coach for an admirable job under the circumstances.

After they fired him, that is.

General manager Mickey Loomis said Monday's firing of Haslett was about more than the 3-13 record the Saints endured after Hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans and forced the team to set up a temporary home in San Antonio.

"I think Jim performed really well under some adverse conditions, unprecedented conditions," Loomis said. "But unfortunately we haven't had the results the past five seasons that you come to expect in this league. It wasn't based just on this season."

Haslett was the 2000 NFL Coach of the Year in his first season after leading the Saints to the only playoff victory in team history. But he never made it back to the postseason, finishing 45-51 in six seasons for the second-most victories in team history behind Jim Mora's 93.

Haslett is expected to be a highly sought candidate in an exploding market. More respected leaguewide than within some quarters of his own organization, he likely will hear from multiple suitors as franchises begin the process of filling vacancies.

Haslett, 50, wasn't at Monday's news conference, but issued a statement through the team.

"There were some unexpected challenges, but in any case our record isn't good enough," he said.

Loomis said the team will pay the remaining year of Haslett's contract, worth $3.2 million. Haslett said earlier this month he wanted an extension to his contract, and Loomis said the team rejected his request.

"I knew what his desires were, but we didn't get to that point," Loomis said. "We talked about four or five different scenarios."

Loomis said he has some people in mind to be the next coach, but wouldn't mention candidates by name. Interviews could begin in the next few days, he said.

The next coach of the team must have NFL experience, said Loomis, who doesn't expect the uncertainty surrounding the franchise to make it more difficult to find a coach.

Although the Saints will return to their headquarters in suburban New Orleans later this month, it's unclear where they will play home games next season. Owner Tom Benson said the Superdome, heavily damaged by Katrina, will be ready for games in mid-September despite official projections for November.

"I don't think it will be difficult," Loomis said. "This is a good job. Obviously, we have some challenges in front of us, but frankly I wouldn't want a head coach who's not willing to face challenges."

New Orleans hasn't had a winning season since 2002, and this year was marred before it even began. Katrina hit New Orleans less than two weeks before the regular season, and the Saints ended up playing four home games in Baton Rouge, La., three in San Antonio and one "home" game against the New York Giants that irked the Saints players because it was played in New Jersey.

New Orleans opened the season with an emotional win at Carolina, but finished by losing 11 of 12, including Sunday's season-ending 27-13 defeat at Tampa Bay.

"For all of us, it was a time to follow a new direction, to bring closure to what was a disappointing year record-wise and move forward," Haslett said in the statement.

The turmoil surrounding the Saints slowly took its toll on them. Their practice site changed frequently because of previously scheduled events in the Alamodome, and their locker room was part of a high school baseball complex. Players voiced their frustrations, and receiver Joe Horn was a frequent critic of the league.

Regardless of whether the circumstances contributed, the Saints finished tied with Green Bay as the worst team in the league in turnover margin. The Saints had 24 more turnovers than their opponents.

They also allowed seven returns for touchdowns on turnovers or blocked kicks without getting one of their own.

"It was tough under these conditions for Jim and the team to win games," Saints receiver Donte' Stallworth said. "But this business is about wins and losses."

Haslett broke in as an NFL coach working with linebackers with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1993 before his first stint with the Saints in 1995-96. He was the defensive coordinator his second year with the Saints and for three seasons with Pittsburgh from 1997-99.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.