By Mark Beckenbach
Jay Martin, the winningest coach in NCAA men’s soccer history and head men’s soccer coach at Ohio Wesleyan University since 1977, will retire as the Battling Bishops’ head coach after the 2024 season, it was announced today by athletics director Doug Zipp.
“It’s time,” Martin said. “My heart wants me to continue, my brain wants me to continue, but my body says no. I clearly don’t have the energy I had 10-20-30 years ago. The irony is that I think I’m a better coach than I was 10-20-30 years ago in terms of tactics, and I think I’m still good at what I think are two of the most important areas of coaching, empowerment of players and relationships, but it’s time for someone younger to bring in new energy to the program.”
Martin will continue as a full professor in Ohio Wesleyan’s department of health and human kinetics. Associate head coach Matt Weiss will take over as the Battling Bishops’ head coach after the 2024 season.
Teaching has always been near and dear to Martin’s heart. “I’m going to continue on the faculty because I enjoy teaching,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I stayed here so long. Other institutions that offered jobs wouldn’t have allowed me to teach.
“I’m totally confident that Matt is going to do a great job (as head coach). He’s been here 10 years and he is ready.”
“Being able to work with a legend like Jay for more than a decade has been an incredible experience for me,” Weiss said. “I am forever grateful for the impact he has had on me professionally and personally. I came to OWU 10 years ago to learn how to win some soccer games and Jay has responded by teaching me how to run a program where success is a by-product of positive team culture, strong relationships, and empowering student-athletes.”
“When you think of Jay Martin, you think of NCAA men’s soccer,” Zipp said. “His accomplishments, although focused solely on Division III, transcend all NCAA divisions and are just remarkable. He is the winningest coach in the sport and has been an incredible colleague and mentor to me during my time at Ohio Wesleyan. I am positive NCAA Division III men’s soccer would not be where it is today without the influence and leadership of Jay.
“Jay has been a stalwart at Ohio Wesleyan for 47 years and a servant to all the student-athletes who have come through the program. He built a program based on history, pride, and tradition that, to this day, is one of the most recognized men’s soccer programs in the NCAA. Through his leadership, advocacy, mentoring, teaching, and coaching, the program has been able to sustain unprecedented success over the past four decades. He has been an admired and positive teacher and mentor to hundreds, if not thousands, of student-athletes and coaches not only at Ohio Wesleyan but across the nation.”
With a total of 762 wins, Martin is the winningest coach in NCAA men’s soccer history. Heading into the 2024 season, he has guided his 46 Battling Bishop soccer teams to a 762-164-81 record. His career winning percentage of .797 entering the 2024 season ranks 14th all-time in the NCAA and fifth in NCAA Division III.
Martin guided Ohio Wesleyan to NCAA Division III national championships in 1998 and 2011, but surprisingly, those two accomplishments are not the ones he looks upon most fondly.
“When I first started coaching, I thought that unless I won a national championship, I wouldn’t be accepted by my peer group, but as I look back, those are probably not in my top 10 (accomplishments). There are probably 10-15 teams that could win a national championship every year — there’s such an element of luck involved.
“I’m proud of taking 15 teams to Europe and introducing them to European soccer. I’m proud of our graduation rate. To me, the highlight of every year is graduation day — I’ve missed only two in 47 years. I’m proud of what our alums have done — many are still playing. I’m very proud that my son, Ryan, played here for four years, and we survived and still talk to each other. I’m also proud of being able to follow my son, Kyle, on the golf course with the OWU team for four years. He could have played soccer, but was an All-America golfer. I’m proud of the fact that I won the (Sherwood Dodge Shankland) teaching award at Ohio Wesleyan, which illustrated the fact that I am not just a coach but an educator who coaches.”
Martin credits much of his success to his wife of more than 40 years, JoAnn Bamford Martin. “I want to thank JoAnn for the unwavering support of me and the program. She has been an inspiration to me.”
Martin’s teams have reached the national semifinals 9 times, finishing as national runner-up twice in addition to the 1998 and 2011 titles. They have been among the final 16 teams a total of 29 times and have brought home 12 regional titles, including 9 in the last 15 seasons that the NCAA tournament included a regional format. Ohio Wesleyan holds the NCAA Division III record with 44 playoff appearances and has recorded 66 playoff victories. Martin’s teams set another NCAA record with 18 consecutive Division III tournament berths from 1978-95.
He has been the NCAA Regional Coach of the Year 16 times in his 46 seasons at Ohio Wesleyan and was named NSCAA national Coach of the Year in 1991, 1998, and 2011. In 2000, Martin received the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association’s Honor Award, only the fourth time that award was bestowed since the association’s founding in 1949. He received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Honor Award in 2007, and was inducted into the United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame in 2020.
Under Martin’s guidance, Ohio Wesleyan was the winningest men’s soccer team in the NCAA — regardless of division — during the 1980s, compiling a winning percentage of .815 to top such programs as Indiana, UNC-Greensboro, and UCLA. The Battling Bishops bettered that during the 1990s, compiling a winning percentage of .825, and improved upon that during the 2000s with a winning percentage of .827.
The Battling Bishops are scheduled to open the 2024 season at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30, against Mount Union at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex. In the coming weeks, Ohio Wesleyan will announce a schedule of events celebrating Martin’s 47 years as the Bishops’ men’s soccer coach.
Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan University athletics at BattlingBishops.com.
Source, Photo: OWU
