Ohio Wesleyan University men’s soccer coach Jay Martin has been selected to the inaugural class of the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association, it was announced by the OCSA.
Martin has served as the Battling Bishops’ head coach since 1977. He is the winningest men’s soccer coach in NCAA history with 767 victories, and his career winning percentage of .797 entering the 2024 season ranked 14th all-time in NCAA history.
In 46 seasons, Martin’s teams have compiled a 303-32-24 record in conference play, a winning percentage of .877, and have won 26 conference crowns.
In 2011, Martin guided Ohio Wesleyan to its second NCAA Division III national championship. Along the way, the Bishops extended their unbeaten string in NCAC competition to a league-record 40 games.
Another peak in Martin’s already-illustrious coaching career came when he guided the Battling Bishops to the 1998 NCAA Division III championship.
His teams have reached the NCAA Division III semifinals 9 times, finishing as national runner-up twice in addition to the 1998 and 2011 titles. They have been among the final 16 teams a total of 29 times and have brought home 12 regional titles, including 9 in the last 15 seasons that the NCAA tournament included a regional format. Ohio Wesleyan holds the NCAA Division III record with 44 playoff appearances and has recorded 66 playoff victories.
Martin’s teams set another NCAA record with 18 consecutive Division III tournament berths from 1978-95 and have won an unprecedented 23 Stu Parry Awards, the latter recognizing Ohio’s top Division III team each year.
He has been the NCAA Regional Coach of the Year 16 times in his 46 years at Ohio Wesleyan and was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s national Coach of the Year in 1991, 1998, and 2011. In 2000, Martin received the OCSA’s Honor Award, only the fourth time that award was bestowed since the association’s founding in 1949. He received NSCAA’s Honor Award in 2007, and was inducted into the United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame in 2020.
Under Martin’s guidance, Ohio Wesleyan was the winningest men’s soccer team in the NCAA — regardless of division — during the 1980s, compiling a winning percentage of .815 to top such programs as Indiana, UNC-Greensboro and UCLA. The Battling Bishops bettered that during the 1990s, compiling a winning percentage of .825, and improved upon that during the 2000s, with a winning percentage of .827.
Beyond coaching, Martin also has served soccer with a term as president of the NSCAA as well as a 6-year stint on the NCAA Division III selection committee, including 4 years as committee chair. He has been a color analyst of the Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew for 9 seasons. In addition, he took over as editor of the NSCAA’s The Soccer Journal in January, 2003, becoming the publication’s third editor since its establishment in 1950.
“As a member of the executive committee of the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association, I am pleased to announce the organization’s very first Hall of Fame class,” said Joe Bergin, men’s soccer coach at Marietta College. “This prestigious honor recognizes coaches who have demonstrated outstanding dedication, leadership, and excellence in the realm of collegiate soccer. The inaugural class includes a diverse group of individuals whose remarkable careers and legacies continue to inspire future generations.”
OWU Sports Information contributed to this report.
