St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz continued the revamping of his staff in the wake of a disappointing season, hiring Buffalo Bills running backs coach Steve Fairchild as the team's new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

Not surprisingly, Martz will continue to do most of the work designing game plans and calling plays, as he has done in the past. But the addition of Fairchild, 44, should provide him some reprieve from the workload that caused Rams officials plenty of concern the past two seasons.

It also gives Martz a sounding board with whom he is familiar and in whom it appears he has great confidence. In time, Martz acknowledged, he might eventually cede some of his own responsibilities to Fairchild, but that will not be in the coming season.

Fairchild was the first quarterback ever tutored by Martz, at Mesa Junior College in San Diego back in the mid-1970s, and the two have remained good friends through the years. The fit, Martz said, is a good one in terms of both temperament and philosophy.

Although he has spent only two seasons in the league, joining Gregg Williams' staff in Buffalo in 2001, Fairchild is regarded as a bright offensive planner and hard worker. He was hired by the Bills after four seasons at Colorado State (1997-2000) and he has also worked in five other college programs.

Martz had indicated last week that he would not hire a coordinator, but was forced to add that title for Fairchild because the Bills would not grant permission for him to make what would have been considered a lateral move.

The acquisition of Fairchild leaves John Ramsdell's status uncertain. Ramsdell has served as Rams quarterbacks coach since 1999; he could become the tight ends coach or be moved to the personnel department as a scout.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.