The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Doug Martin

Followed DeWayne Walker. Doug Martin held New Mexico State at Regional Program VI for 8 seasons.

The builder
54–127
2004–2021 · 2 stints
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Kent State, 7 seasons
+4.7
Regional Program V → Regional Program V.
New Mexico State, 8 seasons
+0.1
Regional Program VI → Regional Program VI.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

50%60%New Mexico State2013–2021▲ 9.3pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
New Mexico State15.2pt#51 of 258 · more than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

4–11 against his rivals. Just 1–5 against J.D. Brookhart.

Rivalry record
4–11
26.7% · 2 rivals
One-score games
17–31
35.4% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
New Mexico2–625%
Akron2–529%
The toughest matchupNemesis
6 meetings, 2004–2009
’04 L’05 L’06 W’07 L’08 L’09 L
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–1 0.0%
Blue Blood
0–5 0.0%
Power Program
0–9 0.0%
National Program
2–20 9.1%
Regional Program
37–85 30.3%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
-0.14
#209 of 319 · a typical amount · smaller cross-referenced sample
Defense marginal impact
-0.15
#249 of 325 · less than most · smaller cross-referenced sample

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2013–2021
New Mexico Statecaretaker
Regional Program VI → Regional Program VI
Doug Martin held New Mexico State at Regional Program VI for 8 seasons.

17th-best New Mexico State tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent
-0.4 pts
#115 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-0.5 pts
#103 of 208 · a typical amount
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed DeWayne Walker (2009–2012) · succeeded by Jerry Kill (2022–2023).

Season201320142015201620172018201920202021Trend
Record & result
Record2–102–103–93–97–63–92–101–12–10
PostseasonW CFP
Recruiting rank#121#124#126#127#123#119#130#113
Style — pass rate
Pass rate49.150.650.364.260.353.658.3
Coordinators
OCGregg BrandonDoug MartinDoug MartinDoug MartinDoug MartinDoug MartinDoug MartinDoug Martin
DCLarry CoyerZane VanceFrank SpazianiFrank SpazianiFrank SpazianiFrank SpazianiFrank SpazianiFrank Spaziani
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense25402444172717
Defense79396540205
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%42.254.348.064.459.552.662.6
Red-zone pass%40.044.146.357.147.047.146.7
4th-down go%opp. territory48.643.240.029.435.943.225.6
Roster construction · portal era

Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.

Portal arrivals
1
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
10
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-9
#183 of 187 FBS stints
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
3.6
position-weighted
Talent lost
21.4
position-weighted
Net
-17.8
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Eli Johnson (IOL) from Ole Miss
Biggest loss: Camden Chustz (OT) to the portal
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: Gregg Brandon → Doug Martin · 2015
25th pct40th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 42.2% → 54.3% (+12.1 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 78% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: Larry Coyer → Zane Vance · 2015
7th pct9th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: Zane Vance → Frank Spaziani · 2016
9th pct39th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Running back
199 lbs
5′10″ avg · #648 of 791 · less than most
Wide receiver
196 lbs
6′1″ avg · #255 of 791 · a typical amount
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
308 lbs
6′4″ avg · #413 of 779 · a typical amount
D-line
273 lbs
6′3″ avg · #609 of 753 · less than most
Linebacker
224 lbs
6′2″ avg · #602 of 772 · less than most
Cornerback
191 lbs
6′1″ avg · #325 of 771 · a typical amount
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Postseason detail2017: Beat Utah State 26–20 CFP

3 NFL Draft picks: Jeremy Harris (2013), Jaleel Scott (2018), Jason Huntley (2020)

25–74
2004–2010
Kent Statecaretaker
Regional Program VI → Regional Program V
Doug Martin moved Kent State from Regional Program VI to Regional Program V in 7 seasons.

12th-best Kent State tenure of 19 by the numbers.

Followed Dean Pees (1998–2003) · succeeded by Darrell Hazell (2011–2012).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Grows Tackle from high school
100%
#198 of 223 stints

4 NFL Draft picks: Usama Young (2007), Jack Williams (2008), Julian Edelman (2009), Jameson Konz (2010)

29–53