Mike Martin, the most successful coach in college sports history, died Thursday after a battle with Lewy body
dementia. He was 79.
Martin was the head coach at his alma mater, Florida State, for 40 years before retiring in 2019. In all 40 of those
seasons, he led the Seminoles to at least 40 wins and the NCAA Tournament, setting an unrivaled record for
consistency. He had a 2,209-736-4 record as a head coach. He brought 17 teams to the College World Series and was
runner-up twice, but he never won a national championship.
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Martin was elected Baseball America Coach of the Year twice, a feat no other man has accomplished. He coached a
record three College Players of the Year, as well as the first choice in the MLB and NFL drafts (J.D. Drew and Jameis
Winston, respectively). He mentored fathers and sons, including his own son, Mike Martin Jr.
Those records, accolades, and accomplishments all paint a story of sustained success, establishing Martin as one of
the finest college baseball coaches in history. And that is who he was. He spent 47 years with the program, both as a
player and as a coach. The Seminoles now play at Mike Martin Field. His number 11 is connected with his name in
Tallahassee and elsewhere.
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Martin and Florida State baseball may appear inextricably linked. But he wasn’t only into baseball. His wife of 59
years, Carol, was always by his side. Martin valued his family deeply. Martin attended a large, three-generational
family supper in Omaha on the eve of his final game, a College World Series contest versus Texas Tech in 2019. He
taught his grandchildren proper manners and chastised his son, Mike Martin Jr., for ordering a large plate of
calamari for $50 and only eating about half of it himself.