Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer coach Jay Martin has led the Battling Bishops to 762 wins, and he has one more season to add to that total.
OWU has announced that Martin, who has led the program since 1977, will retire after the 2024 season.
Martin’s 762 wins are already the most in NCAA men’s soccer history, 29 more than second-place Tony Tocco, who coached at Rockhurst from 1970 to 1973 and then again from 1975 to 2023.
His .797 winning percentage, based on a 762-164-81 record, also ranks him 14th among coaches with at least 10 years of experience. His teams won Division III championships in 1998 and 2011.
“It’s time,” Martin said in a statement shared by the school. “My heart wants me to move on, my mind wants me to move on, but my body says no. I clearly don’t have the energy I had 10, 20, 30 years ago. The irony is that I think I’m a better coach in terms of tactics than I was 10, 20, 30 years ago, and I think I’m still good at what I think are the most important areas of coaching – player empowerment and relationships – but it’s time for someone younger to bring new energy to the program.”
According to the school, Martin will continue as a professor in the Department of Health and Human Kinetics at Ohio Wesleyan University and associate head coach Matt Weiss will take over the Battling Bishops men’s soccer team following Martin’s retirement.
