Matt Martin said everything finally hit him while he was emptying his Emporia State football locker for the final time last week.
“I’ve been in the HPER Building so many times between class and practice and coaching,” Martin said, “that it was kind of a surreal feeling.”
After spending seven combined years as a coach and player at ESU, Martin said his final goodbye to Emporia earlier this week, accepting a full-time assistant coaching position at Nebraska-Kearney.
Martin served as a graduate assistant at ESU for the last two seasons after a five-year playing career.
Last year, he coached the safeties.
“Matt’s work speaks for itself,” ESU coach Garin Higgins said. “You definitely don’t want to lose any coaches, but I know that’s probably not going to happen. It’s nice when other programs recognize the good coaches that you have.”
Martin, who will coach linebackers at Kearney, said the new opportunity opened up for him after he met UNK defensive coordinator Bob Crocker during a vacation to Nebraska last year.
When a full-time assistant’s job opened up this summer, things started to fall in place.
“I’ve always had aspirations of being a big-time college football coach,” Martin said, “and I think this is a step in the right direction for me.”
Martin said he still remembered his first day on the ESU campus: Aug. 6, 2001.
For the next seven years, he said Emporia developed into more than a college town for him.
“I’ve considered it home,” Martin said, “and really have been glad to do so.”
During his college days, Martin caught 76 passes for 853 yards.
Since then, he has coached multiple positions and also helped Higgins’ staff in its transition to ESU last year.
“This is a great opportunity for him,” Higgins said. “He did a great job here and always did everything we asked. We were fortunate to have him.”
Higgins said Martin’s coaching spot would be filled by some shuffling of graduate assistants and coaches.
ESU has brought in three new graduate assistant coaches since last spring: Brendan Meany, J.J. Milanovich and Jerrod Sparling.
Meany, who played collegiately at Winona State, will coach the defensive line, while Milanovich, who played at Slippery Rock, will help with linebackers.
Sparling, who played at ESU and also was a student assistant for part of last season, will coach wide receivers.
Defensive coordinator Ken Gordon, meanwhile, will shift his responsibilities from linebackers last year to the secondary this year.
Higgins also said that Mike LoPorto, who played linebacker last year for ESU, would serve this season as a student assistant.
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