Doug Martin will return to lead the New Mexico State program in 2020, athletic director Mario Moccia shared with the Albuquerque Journal.
“I have confidence in Doug, and I have not lost any confidence in Doug. He inherited a tougher situation than we’re in right now and took us to a seven-win season and a bowl game (in 2017). I have no reason to believe he can’t do that again.”
Martin has two years left on his contract that pays him $430,000 annually in base salary. Over the past twos seasons, Martin has gone 3-9 and 2-10 and is currently 21-63 overall with NMSU. Overall, as a head coach at Kent State and NMSU, Martin is 51-116.
Martin, who also previously led the Kent State program for seven seasons and a 29-53 overall record, has led the program in the desert the past seven seasons. His best season with the Aggies was a 7-win season in 2017, where he led the team to a bowl game victory in the Arizona Bowl. The bowl trip was just the fourth postseason trip ever for the program.
NMSU and Martin agreed to a four-year extension following that bowl trip, taking him through 2021. The new deal included an automatic one-year extension to kick in for each year he won at least six games.
Widely regarded as one of the tougher jobs in major college football, New Mexico State will look for Martin to get them back on track and will be pursuing just their fifth winning season in the past 50+ years. This year's schedule included guarantee games against Washington State, Alabama, and Ole Miss and next season's will feature just two of those vital guarantee games with trips to UCLA and Florida.
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