It was the most logical choice. For a variety of reasons.
The hiring of Mike Martin Jr. as Florida State's next head baseball coach has seemed like an inevitability for a while now. Not just because of his last name.
He has helped keep the Seminoles' program among the best in the nation, even as his dad's age rose into the mid-70s. He's been the team's hitting coach for 22 years and the lead recruiter for the better part of a decade.
Even after the Seminoles stunned national seed Georgia to win the Athens Regional, he didn't stick around to celebrate. He was on his way to Atlanta immediately after the game so he could recruit the following morning.
He's been one of the best hitting coaches in the country for 20 years – just look at the numbers if you don't believe that. And yes, I was in Omaha, I saw what his offense did NOT do out there. By and large, though, his offenses score a lot of runs and get on base a lot. He's very good at that aspect of his job.
Judging his overall effectiveness on a three-game sample size instead of a 22-year career isn't how any of this works.
For more than two decades, the guy has produced good to great offenses. That doesn't go away just because the FSU hitters looked overmatched for much of Omaha. That's baseball. It happens. By and large, the Seminoles have been terrific at getting on base and scoring runs throughout Martin Jr.'s tenure.
This isn't to say that this was a simple hire. I can understand the frustrations among the fan base, wondering if Florida State really tried to hire the best person to be the next head coach or if it just gave it to the guy who was related to the retiring legend. Because it was expected. And easy.
I think that drastically undervalues how important Martin Jr. has been to the continued success of FSU over the years, but I understand how that could be construed.
Whether you think it was the right hire or not, however, you can't legitimately argue that the son hasn't put together an incredibly impressive resume. To the contrary, one could argue it's one of the best resumes any assistant coach has ever had: 22 NCAA Tournaments, 22 forty-win seasons, 17 Super Regionals, 8 College World Series appearances and six ACC Championships. And, oh yeah, he was a part of 1,064 overall wins as a part of his dad's coaching staff.
Those numbers speak for themselves. And Martin Jr. wasn't some lucky bystander during the last 22 years. He was a vital part of the program. Even more so here in the last decade.
You can be mad if you think FSU didn't give any other candidates a serious look. You can be mad that it didn't hire a proven head coach. Have at it. But don't pretend that Martin Jr. didn't have the pedigree to get this kind of chance.
Plus, there are other factors to think about if you're Florida State.
First and foremost, other than O'Sullivan at Florida or Corbin at Vanderbilt or Savage at UCLA, there aren't really a lot of sure-thing head coaches out there. Yes, I believe those guys would do great things at Florida State. But those guys aren't coming to Tallahassee.
This is a great job. But it's not a high-paying one, comparatively. So the big-time names are out.
You could argue Michigan head coach Erik Bakich could be a candidate – and I would certainly listen if he wanted the job – but again, I'm not sure FSU could entice him to move to the ACC when he's about to get a hefty raise from the Wolverines. Just from a purely financial perspective, I don't think FSU is about to get into a bidding war with a Big Ten school. Or an SEC school. Or even a fellow ACC school like Louisville, which is paying its head coach over $1 million per year.
And sure, Florida State could go the University of Texas route and replace a legend with a coach from Tulane or some other mid-major school. But that, of course, is no guarantee for success (Texas didn't even make the NCAA Tournament this year.)
There are numerous examples of mid-major coaches flaming out at big-time schools. Just as there are examples of mid-major coaches who have had success. The truth is there is no blueprint to this. There is no fool-proof plan.
There is no guarantee that any head coach -- other than a select handful, in my opinion -- would be able to win big at Florida State. And Florida State likely can't afford those guys.
So the best shot FSU would have to pull a College World Series-caliber Power 5 coach is to nab an assistant from one of the elite-level programs in the country. And if you're going to nab an assistant from an elite-level program, why not just get the guy that's been a part of yours for his whole life? And, you know, is pretty darn good at his job?
This isn't a hire that needs defending, in my opinion.
Mike Martin Jr. is one of the most accomplished assistant coaches in America. He's not Jeff Bowden. If you make that comparison, you're just mad for the sake of being mad. And you're wrong.
Jeff Bowden was one of the reasons FSU's football dynasty came crashing to the ground. A big reason.
Mike Martin Jr. is one of the reasons the FSU baseball program is still going to Omaha and still bringing in terrific recruiting classes. A big reason.
You could say he got the job at FSU back in the '90s because of his last name. Sure. Can't really argue with that. But he's proven his worth over the last two decades.
Florida State is still Florida State due in large part to the work Martin Jr. has done since he joined the staff. His fingerprints are all over this program.
No, he doesn't have any head coaching experience. Neither did O'Sullivan or Dan McDonnell at Louisville. Those hires have worked out pretty well.
I have no idea if Mike Martin Jr. will be a great head coach. I am excited to see what changes he makes to the program and what kind of staff he brings in (though I have to admit I'm most excited to see how he pronounces Beef O'Brady's on the video board during games).
He's said he wants to modernize the program, and I want to see how he goes about doing that. You know he's been thinking about how he'd run this thing for a long, long time.
Maybe it works out tremendously and the Seminoles win multiple national championships with him at the helm. Or maybe the program is looking for a new head coach a few years from now. None of us know how this is going to play out.
There are no guarantees here.
But Mike Martin Jr. deserves this chance, in my opinion. Not because of who his father is, but because he was so instrumental in getting that father 1,064 wins over the last 22 years. He's been the driving force behind the scenes of FSU baseball for a good, long while now.
So it only seems fitting that he gets to be out front now. To see if he can keep the program at the same cruising altitude. Or maybe even elevate it?
Your opinion on the hire might be different, of course. And that's fine. We can all continue to live under the same sun in harmony regardless. No hard feelings.
Either way, let's all hope that if and when Mike Martin Jr. gets to Omaha one day, he'll have better luck than his old man.
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