Three Takeaways from 7/14/20 Doug Martin Interview

This morning, NM State head football coach, Doug Martin, joined 610 The Sports Animal in Albuquerque to talk on the latest regarding the recently postponed college football season. Coach and the guys covered a number of topics and we’ve picked out the three most important takeaways from the interview that you don’t want to miss. Let’s dig in!

We have our next quarterback.

The first thing Martin mentions when asked about how things were going at the time of cancelation, was his quarterback play. This says a lot coming from a guy who knows his quarterbacks because he was one and builds his offense around them. Martin called the play from JuCo transfer Jonah Johnson and redshirt freshman, Weston Eget, “phenomenal;” “big arms” is what Martin said to describe both of them. This should come as welcomed news to Aggie Nation as going deep was something we’ve struggled with offensively since Tyler Rodgers graduated, and even with him at times. Too frequently the Aggies were forced to check down to underneath routes because Adkins just didn’t have the arm strength to beat a defense over the top. With quarterback play being a BIG question mark this year, Aggie Nation should feel at ease from the words of their head coach.

Seniors are likely to get an additional year of eligibility.

While football in the spring is still on the table, Martin mentions he doesn’t see a spring season being more than 4-8 games if there are any at all. Martin briefly mentions that he would assume an additional year of eligibility would be granted to seniors this year into 2021 similar to what was granted to spring sport athletes this year. Coach clarified that there is still a lot in the air and that he relies on the Covid response committee that the University has established to guide decisions on this matter. The committee is comprised of leading epidemiologists and virologists in the state and includes no coaches or athletic staff to ensure neutrality on the committee. Mario Moccia was hard at work plugging holes in our schedule as teams pulled out but with the governor’s mandate, it became clear that a season would not become a reality.

The NCAA has permitted programs to continue with strength and conditioning activity but NM State is currently in a holding pattern following a team-wide test for Covid as they await the results.

Martin’s message to his players was to “win today” and “stay in the moment” as so much remains in the air and we are unsure when the sport we love will return to the gridiron.

This is the best team Martin has had. 

The excitement in Martin’s voice was clear when asked about how things were going up to this point. He proudly boasted that he thinks he currently has the best team since he’s been here. Martin touted offensively the most talent since taking over the program in 2013; this says a lot for a guy who usually brandishes a high octane offensive football team. On the defensive side of the ball, coach says they have team speed unlike they’ve had since the special 2017 year when NM State won the Arizona Bowl. Those JuCo players in the secondary we’ve been wondering about? Martin says they hit on all of them and were impressed with their speed. Overall, coach was beaming over his squad and believes that if the seniors return in 2021 with an extra year of eligibility, that he’ll have a really good football team. Some good news for Aggie Nation as next year’s schedule really turns up the heat.

What are you going to miss most about football this fall, Aggie Nation?