DALLAS (NCBWA) – The coach whose favorite four words in the English language are "see you in Omaha" now will be honored annually in that baseball-rich city with the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Mike Martin Coach of the Year Award starting in 2020 for the top NCAA Division I baseball coach.

The NCBWA board of directors voted unanimously to name the annual award after the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I baseball history after Martin retired at Florida State in 2019 with a 2,029-736-4 mark over 40 seasons in leading the FSU program from 1980-2019.

"We could not think of any other coach historically to associate a name for this annual award besides coach Mike Martin," said NCBWA executive director Bo Carter. "He has meant so much to college baseball as it has continued year-by-year to gain additional national popularity."

Martin guided the Seminoles to at least 40 wins for all 40 seasons – a feat accomplished by no other college head coach in any sport – and took FSU to the NCAA World Series 17 times during his tenure.

He was National Coach of the Year in both 2012 and 2019 by Baseball America and is a member of both the ABCA Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

As head coach at Florida State, he won 20 regular-season conference titles in the Metro and Atlantic Coast Conferences and was conference coach of the year 13 times in those two circuits.

More importantly, Martin was noted for being a class act coach with disciplined and dedicated student-athletes and one of the great humorists in the game. He received a standing ovation from the media at his final news conference at the NCAA World Series in Omaha last June.

The famed Florida State player, assistant coach under Woody Woodward and the immortal Dick Howser expressed delight when he was notified that the NCBWA was naming the award after his diamond legacy.

"When I heard about it," he said with a smile, "I was simply flabbergasted. It is such an honor to have my name associated with this award, and it is a tribute to all the players and coaches who worked with me at Florida State."

Martin took the Seminoles to NCAA runnerup finishes in the World Series in both 1986 and '99 and set another national record by making every NCAA tournament from 1980-2019 with the Seminoles. Many felt he did one of his best coaching jobs in '19 as the Noles upset their way through the Athens, Georgia., NCAA Regional over host Georgia and then swept heavily-favored LSU in the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional.

The personable coach is one of the most well-known clinicians in the country and also helped prolong FSU's record skein of 42 consecutive tourney appearances (began in 1978 when he was an assistant coach under Woodward) in the NCAA Championships.

In April 2005 Dick Howser Stadium was retitled Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium as the Seminoles legend was in the midst of his 26th season at the helm. On May 5, 2018, Martin passed the late coaching legend Augie Garrido (1,975 victories from 1969-2016) as the winningest head coach in NCAA Division I annals.

Martin's name also will be connected with the previous NCBWA National Coaches of the Year: 2019: Erik Bakich, Michigan; 2018: Gary Henderson, Mississippi State; 2017: Pat Casey, Oregon State; 2016: Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina; 2015: Paul Mainieri, LSU; 2014: Mike Gillespie, UC Irvine; 2013: Tracy Smith, Indiana; 2012: Matt Senk, Stony Brook; 2011: David Esquer, California; 2010: Jim Schlossnagle, TCU; 2009: Brian O'Connor, Virginia; and 2008: Mike Batesole Fresno State.

Coach Martin and his wife Carol have three children – daughters, Mary Beth and Melanie, and son, Mike Jr., – and four grandchildren.

Mike Martin Jr., a 22-year assistant with his father from 1998-2019 at FSU and noted national recruiter, was named as the ninth head coach at Florida State on June 21, 2019.

NCBWA membership includes writers, broadcasters and publicists. Designed to promote and publicize college baseball, it is the sport's only college media-related organization, founded in 1962.

Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Dick Howser Trophy, Regional Players of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors Division I Players of the Week, the Stopper of the Year, and publication and writing contests.

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