FSU Baseball: Hiring Mike Martin Jr. as head coach is a blah move

FSU Baseball has named the newest head coach for the 2020 season – and it’s a name that shocked hardly anyone and still left some things to be desired.

For the last four decades, the FSU baseball team has been led in the dugout by a man in the No. 11 jersey who became a legend in the sport – as Mike Martin won more games than any other coach in the history of college sports while building the Seminoles into one of the top programs in the country.

Starting with the upcoming season in 2020, the Seminoles will be led by a new manager after Martin stepped aside following 40 seasons – but, as it turns out, the name will be the same with the word Jr. after it after the news Friday that Mike Martin Jr. will be the ninth coach in the history of the program.

It’s a move that might be the least shocking thing of anything since the news in the summer of 2018 that his father would coach just one more season as many considered the man known as “Meat” to be the overwhelming favorite to take over the FSU baseball team once daddy stepped aside.

Florida State Seminoles

Why do I write that? Because from the jump, it has been seen that those making the decision to who would replace No. 11 in the dugout as the head coach were not going to rock the boat. Whether it had to do with not wanting to pay for a big name coach, not wanting to shake things up or just not wanting to go through the whole process, this was going to be the way the Seminoles were going to be led from this point on.

Now, for the record I have been around Martin Jr. numerous times both on a professional and personal level at various events. Do I think he is more than qualified to coach the Seminoles, both from his time as a player and over two decades as an assistant? Of course I do and there is not a doubt that his heart will be in this job.

Does that mean he is the best person for the job? That is the part I am still not so sure about – because how do we not know that it’s going to be the same path for the FSU baseball team of having a monster regular season that ends yet again without a national title.

After being named as the newest head Seminole, this is what Martin Jr. had to say about the future of the program and the path.

"“I’m very honored and humbled to be able to lead Florida State. It’s been a privilege to serve at this great University for the past 22 years and I’m excited to extend FSU’s 70-year history of success moving forward.”“After serving under one of the all-time greats, we will combine much of what was learned from him with our new staff’s style and ideas in our pursuit of championships.”"

So, what all does that mean? Is FSU baseball going to have a complete cleaning house moment when it comes to the staff? Is Meat going to be just as difficult with the pitching staff as his father seemed to be for at least the better part of the last two decades?

We still have around eight months to go until the FSU baseball team takes the field to start the 2020 season and the Martin Jr. era – but whether or not it is just a continuation of what we have seen for the last four decades is the biggest question that needs an answer as soon as possible.