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For the first time in 42 years, a member of the Martin family will not be a baseball coach for the Florida State Seminoles.
Tomahawk Nation can confirm multiple reports that after three seasons, FSU lost head coach Mike Martin Jr.
Martin, who had a 77-54 record with the Seminoles, failed to take the team out of the regional stage in two postseason appearances. His debut season with FSU was cut short due to COVID-19 but culminated in the Florida Gators closing Alfred McKethan Stadium with a win at Florida State.
Here is the press release from FSU Athletics:
Florida State University vice president and director of athletics Michael Alford announced Friday that Mike Martin Jr. will not return as FSU baseball coach and that a national search will begin immediately to find his replacement.
“Changing our baseball coach was not an easy decision, but it is our responsibility to best position our student-athletes and our teams to reach their full potential,” said Alford. “Ultimately, the decision came down to whether our baseball program lived up to the admittedly high standards established by our historic success, and I don’t think we did.”
“We appreciate everything Mike has done for the program as a head coach, as an assistant coach, and as a Seminole student-athlete. His passion for the university and baseball program is second to none. I’m sure I speak for all Seminole fans when I say we wish him and his family the very best.”
Tomahawk Nation will follow up on this story in the coming days, including analytics and a coaching hotboard.
Martin Jr.’s full bio via FSU Sports Info:
In 2022, Mike Martin, Jr. will enter his third season as Florida State head coach and his 25th season on the Seminole coaching staff. Despite dealing with COVID issues that disrupted his first two years, Martin is 43-29 years old, wins 60 percent of his games and boasts an 8-2 record against rivals Miami, Florida and Clemson. After reaching the Oxford Regional in 2021, FSU’s 43 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament is just a step short of the all-time record and by far the longest active streak in the country.
In 2021, Florida State finished 31-24 and boasted Atlantic Coast Conference Player and Pitcher of the Year honors with Matheu Nelson and Parker Messick.
Nelson led the country with 23 homers and was the top 10 in slugging percentage, RBI and bases overall. He was named Perfect Game/Rawlings National Hitter of the Year and was the winner of the Buster Posey & Johnny Bench Award for the nation’s top catcher. Nelson, a unanimous First Team All-American, was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds with the 35th overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft. He was the second Seminole and first since Jeff Ledbetter in 1982 to lead the country in home runs.
On the mound, Messick finished 8-2 with a 3.10 earned running average and 126 strikeouts in 90.0 innings. Also, ACC Freshman of the Year Messick led a baton that placed in the top 10 nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (4th, 11.4), strikeout-to-walk ratio (7th, 3.19) and ERA (7th, 3.45) belonged. Messick was named a third-team All-American while teammate Bryce Hubbart, a third-team All-ACC selection with 94 strikeouts in 71.0 innings in 2021, also returns as the duo leads the 2022 FSU rotation.
Florida State won the season series against Miami, winning all three games at Coral Gables and a fourth in the ACC tournament in Charlotte.
Although the MLB draft was reduced to 20 rounds (from the usual 40), the Seminoles had seven players selected, the most in the first 20 rounds for FSU since 1995. Along with Nelson, Robby Martin, Hunter Perdue, Jack Anderson and Elijah Cabell, Conor Grady, and Tyler Ahearn were drafted and began their pro careers. After his freshman season, pitcher CJ Van Eyk was selected in the second round and Shane Drohan in the fifth round as the 2020 draft was reduced to just five rounds.
In his inaugural campaign, Martin and the Seminoles finished 12-5 and ended the year with a 2-0 win at No. 1 Florida. The win ended Florida’s 11-game winning streak in the series and was the Gators’ only loss that year.
Florida State has produced 11 consecutive recruiting classes ranked in the top 10, including all three with Martin Jr. as head coach — #3 in 2019, #6 in 2020, and #7 by D1Baseball in 2021.
Martin helped oversee the growth of a handful of players, including Cabell, who finished in the top 10 in the country in home runs (eighth) and RBI (fourth) and led the NCAA with 15 hit-by-pitches during the 2020 season.
Martin was named head coach on June 21, 2019 after 22 years as the assistant coach of the Seminole at his alma mater. His offenses focused on hitting and recruiting, and he had a .300 combined batting average during his tenure.
As an assistant coach, Martin and Florida State made it through the postseason, winning at least 40 games each year, with eight appearances in the College World Series, 17 NCAA Super Regionals, and six Atlantic Coast Conference titles.
Martin has coached five Internationals of the Year players – Nelson, James Ramsey, Buster Posey, Tony Thomas and Shane Robinson. Since Martin joined the Seminole staff ahead of the 1998 season, Florida State has had 23 first-team All-Americans, a total of 93 All-Americans, and 34 players have advanced to the major leagues. Overall, the Seminoles have received All-ACC honors 119 times, and Martin oversaw 67 batsmen being drafted between 1998 and 2019, with nine other Seminoles being drafted since he became head coach.
Prior to joining the Florida State staff, Martin was FSU’s starting catcher from 1993-1995 and led FSU to the 1994 and 1995 College World Series. In 1995, he was drafted out of college by San Diego in the ninth round. Before joining Florida State , Martin played high school ball at the Maclay School in Tallahassee and Manatee Community College in 1992.
Martin has two sons, Tyler, an infielder for the Seminoles, and TJ
