FSU baseball coach will return for 40th year, retire after 2019 season
Longtime Florida State baseball coach Mike Martin will return to coach the Seminoles for his 40th and final season in 2019, the school announced on Monday.
Next season will serve as a farewell tour of sorts for Martin, who became the NCAA all-time leader in career wins in 2018. Martin is 13 wins shy of 2,000 for his career.
“I’ve said this so many times but it is true, I am just so thankful to work for a school like FSU and an athletics administration that has given me every opportunity to be successful,” Martin said in a released statement.
“I’m glad that they want me to continue coaching next season and I thank all our former and current coaches, staff and most importantly our players for the consistent success of our baseball program.”
Martin was in the final year of his contract last season, which ended in sour fashion for the Seminoles with two losses in the Tallahassee Regional, a year after reaching the College World Series in 2016.
Florida State athletic director Stan Wilcox said the school will conduct a national search for a new head baseball coach after the 2019 season.
“Coach Martin and I have talked several times over the last couple of years about his plans. I am pleased to announce that he has agreed to coach one last team in 2019 before retiring at the conclusion of the season,” Wilcox said.
“There is no finer representative of Florida State University and no better champion of college baseball than Mike Martin. His passion, dedication and demand for on-field success are as strong as they were the day he got the job, and I’m eager to watch what he and our team can accomplish next year.”
School president John Thrasher echoed he same sentiments about Martin.
“Coach Martin is a great ambassador for both Florida State University and the game of baseball, and I am pleased he will return as our coach next season,” Thrasher said.
“His abilities as a coach are reflected in the fact that he is the winningest college coach in the history of the game, but he also has shown a generation what a program run with pride, class and proper priorities looks like.”
In his 39 seasons Martin has helped FSU extend longtime streaks of 41 straight seasons with at least 40 wins and 41 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament.
Martin, a Seminoles player in 1965-66 and assistant coach from 1975 to ’79 before being head coach, also thanked Florida State baseball fans for their support in the statement.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the huge role that our fans play in the success of our program,” Martin said. “They are the best in the country. I can’t wait to get started this fall. Go ’Noles!”
“There is no finer representative of Florida State University and no better champion of college baseball than Mike Martin. His passion, dedication and demand for on-field success are as strong as they were the day he got the job, and I’m eager to watch what he and our team can accomplish next year.”
– STAN WILCOX, FLORIDA STATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR