Status of Coach Martinez

There are no guarantees in life.  We teach our players that nothing is given to us.  Everything we receive in life is earned, not handed to us on a silver platter.

We live in a Nation where we take a wrong and try to make it a right.  Where the voice of the people is to be heard by their elected officials.  Where action takes precedence over inaction.

We are all aware of the budget crisis throughout the State of California and how it effects schools throughout the in the SDUSD.  WE all have felt the pinch in one way or another.

With that being said, Mike Martinez has not been re-called to be the head coach of Patrick Henry HS.  He is currently working outside the school district at San Ysidro HS.  Varsity Offensive Coordinator Steve Jacobacci has assumed the position as the Interim Head Coach.  He is a former head coach at PHHS and is a very capable coach.  We will all be running the same offense we installed throughout the program. 

But Coach Martinez was the Defensive Coordinator and he would game plan and do film study each week. 
He would set the practice schedule, make the personnel match-ups and play a major part in special teams preparation. The bad news about his absence is that there is nobody on the Varsity staff that knows the ins and outs of the 3-5 defense the way Coach Martinez does.  So, there are going to be changes on the defense, even though the players are familiar with it and have been dominant during summer passing league. All the hard work that Coach Martinez and the players put in for the upcoming season is about to evaporate into thin air.  What a shame...

Well, I am asking players, parents and friends to make another push to reinstate Coach Martinez.

As an A/P History teacher, Mike Martinez' classes score well above the National average.  He is engaging with his students and they respond well to his teaching style.  I have sat in his classes and have seen how he works with his students first hand. The reason Mike is successful is not because he demands his students to do the work, it is because they want to do the work because they really like and respect him as a teacher.   I wish I could command the same respect with the trainees I deal with on the Police Department.

As a football  coach, you won't find another coach that works harder than Mike Martinez.  Being a varsity football coach is a 7 day a week job.  Managing student/athletes, managing weight training, working with the school administration, reporting in with the Athletic Director, managing film study, breaking down film of the upcoming opponent, setting up practice schedules, setting up transportation for students to and from school and home, managing equipment needs, setting up transportation to all away games (which, by the way, will be all games this year), setting up staff meetings, working with the Booster Club and putting out little fires that come up here and there due to player conduct. 

That is a 7 day a week job and it is not for the faint of heart.  Yet Mike Martinez does it out of the love of the school, his Alma Mater, the community of San Carlos in which he lives and most important, the student athletes that play football at Patrick Henry HS.

I will be blunt.  If Mike Martinez is not re-hired, there is a chance that I will not be back either.  The uncertainty of who will be the permanent head coach is a variable we cannot see.  A coach could be hired and bring an entirely new staff to PHHS.  They might have a different agenda from out 'Building Men for Others'.  Nobody knows...

There will be another School Board meeting on Tuesday August the 2nd at 5:00 pm.  I know it is 'Dead Week' where I am not supposed to have contact with my players.  But I would appreciate it very much if we all could fill up the Board meeting and make another push for the school district to re-hire Mike Martinez.

If you want to e-mail the board members, I have attached links to their e-mail addresses below:

Superintendent Kowba: wkowba@sandi.net
Scott Barnett sbarnett@sandi.net
Richard Barrera rbarrara1@sandi.net
Kevin Bisner kbeiser@sandi.net
John Lee Evans johnleeevans@sandi.net
Sheila Jackson sjackson@sandi.net
Area Superintendent dlorden@sandi.net