First Colonial Hires Carlos Martinez
The First Colonial Patriots have a new Head Football Coach and didn't have to go too far for him.
Former Tallwood assistant coach Carlos Martinez gets his first crack as a Head Coach at the Virginia Beach school that later this year will be looking to end the city's longest playoff drought.
"It has been a lifelong goal of mine. Growing up in the area, I know that they have a great tradition and I feel really blessed to have a landing spot like this one," Martinez told VirginiaPreps.com on Monday.
"Playing against them year in and year out, you got a sense of who they were. They have some playmakers and some hard-working, gritty kids. I explained to them my vision for the program. I see a lot of potential, and they do, too. I'm excited and humble by the opportunity, and ready to go now."
First Colonial appeared to have hired Mike Biehl in late February, but some unforeseen circumstances led to him returning to Nansemond-Suffolk Academy as Head Football Coach and the position re-opening earlier this month.
Martinez, 36, spent the past six years as an assistant coach at Tallwood, where he's also served as a special education teacher. Among his duties have been running backs coach, head strength and conditioning coach, co-special teams coordinator, Associate Head Coach and even offensive coordinator for two of those seasons.
Tallwood is coming off back-to-back playoff appearances under John Kepple, someone Martinez credits for helping groom him for this position.
"I wouldn't be where I am today without a lot of people. One of the first people to give me an opportunity was Bruce Pearl with the Virginia Beach Mustangs. I actually coached with Pop Warner for six or seven years. From there, I applied for a job with Coach Kepple," Martinez recalled on how he got into coaching.
"Amazingly, Coach Kepple gave me an opportunity when he didn't have to, and I thank him along with the Tallwood staff and admin staff for believing me while getting my teaching credentials together."
Before getting into coaching, Martinez played at Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach for Jim Prince. He then went on to play four years of College Football at Hampden-Sydney as a cornerback, kick returner and punt returner.
At First Colonial, Martinez follows Sam Scarborough, who went 57-74 in 13 seasons over two different stints. Frank Webster won 244 games from 1967-99 as the Head Coach at First Colonial, highlighted by ten district titles and three regional crowns.
Yet, the Patriots have fallen on tough times lately, producing just one winning season - a 6-4 mark under Scarborough in 2011 - over the past 13 seasons. Last year's team opened 0-8 before outlasting Green Run 43-40 and Kempsville 21-14 in their final two regular season contests.
The Patriots haven't made the playoffs since 2000 when the team went 8-3 overall, whereas their last postseason victory came in 1991 - a 24-14 triumph over Hampton.
"I know it sounds simple, but my plan first is to come in and install my vision and make sure we work hard every day. I promise we're going to fight, work hard and compete every day. We will have a lunch-pail mentality. From that point, we'll let the chips fall from there.
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Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10 AM to Noon on ESPN Radio 94.1.