Matt Martin heads into his eighth year at Southeast Missouri. Martin coaches the outside linebackers and is the Redhawks special teams coordinator. Prior to 2018, he spent two years overseeing SEMO’s running backs and two as wide receivers coach.
SEMO led the Ohio Valley Conference in punting (38.2 yards per punt) for the third-straight season in 2020. The Redhawks were also first in kickoff coverage with a net average of 41.8.
Walk-on Zach Haynes was the OVC’s top punter in 2020. A First-Team All-OVC selection and HERO Sports Freshman All-American, Haynes led the conference and ranked 15th in the Football Championship Subdivision with 42.2 yards per punt.
Martin also coached Second-Team All-OVC punt returner Shabari Davis and outside linebacker Omardrick Douglas a year ago.
Davis ranked third in the OVC in punt return average with 9.5 yards per return, while Douglas notched 26 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss.
Over the last three seasons alone, the Redhawks have blocked 12 kicks, including six in 2018, two in 2019 and four in 2020 with Martin as their special teams coach.
SEMO held opponents under their net punt average in 10 of 13 games during the 2018 campaign. The Redhawks ranked first in the OVC in punt return average, second in net punting average and third in kickoff return average. HERO Sports rated SEMO No. 2 in combined special teams that year.
Individually, Zack Smith was first in the OVC in punt returns and Zion Custis led the conference in kick returns as a freshman. Custis was also a First-Team Special Teams Freshman All-American by Phil Steele. Meanwhile, Nicholas Litang led the conference in PAT kicking percentage, Jake Reynolds was third in punting and Kendrick Tiller ranked fourth in field goal percentage.
Smith, Reynolds and Tiller again ranked among the top OVC leaders in 2019. Smith was second in punt return average (10.1 ypr), Reynolds ranked third in punting (40.3 ypp) and Tiller placed third in both scoring (7.3 ppg) and field goals (16).
SEMO’s kicking game went from worst to first in the OVC during the 2014 campaign, Martin’s first year as an assistant coach with the Redhawks.
The Redhawks topped the league in field goals made (18) and PAT kicking percentage (.978) after finishing last in each of those categories the previous season. SEMO also tied for second in the OVC in punting (36.9 ypp).
In 2015, SEMO returned two punts and one kickoff for touchdowns, and led the league in punting with 39.2 yards per punt. Alex Knight, who secured Second-Team All-OVC honors, was the conference’s top punter.
Two years later, the Redhawks ranked tied for first in the OVC in PAT kicking percentage, second in kickoff returns and kickoff coverage, and third in punting and field goals.
Martin has coached three First-Team All-OVC selections in running back Tremane McCullough, punter Alex Knight and return specialist Cameron Sanders.
Sanders ranked 12th in the nation with 27 yards per kick return in 2015. He returned 31 kickoffs for 837 yards and also rated eighth nationally in combined kick return yards. Sanders racked up 1,010 all-purpose yards and currently holds the school’s best career kickoff return average at 28.3 yards per return.
Knight finished his SEMO career ranked third in punting yards (9,100), punt attempts (216) and punting average (42.1).
Meanwhile, McCullough stormed onto the scene and staked his claim as the Redhawks top rusher in 2015. He ran for 1,028 yards and five touchdowns on 170 carries, averaging six yards per touch. McCullough led the OVC with six 100-yard rushing games that season.
Martin coached one other All-OVC pick in kicker Ryan McCrum.
McCrum was a Third-Team Sports Network All-American and Fred Mitchell Award finalist in 2014. He led the Redhawks in scoring and topped the OVC in both field goals and scoring (kick). McCrum also broke Southeast’s all-time single-season record with 18 field goals made that year.
Martin joined SEMO’s coaching staff on Jan. 8, 2014.
He spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Emporia State before coming to Cape Girardeau. Martin coached the wide receivers for four years and served as the team’s special teams coordinator for three seasons.
In 2013, Martin coached four All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association performers, including wide receivers Ray Ray Davis (first-team) and Austin Willis (second-team), kicker Eli Kuhns (honorable mention) and return specialist Deveon Dinwiddle (honorable mention). Davis and Kuhns also earned Don Hansen All-Super Region 3 accolades.
Prior to that, Martin coached All-American Shjuan Richardson in 2012. Richardson finished his career ranked second in single-season receiving yards at Emporia State.
Martin spent four years in the early part of his coaching career on the defensive side of the football. He worked two seasons at Nebraska-Kearney as the Lopers outside linebackers coach before returning to his alma mater in 2010.
Martin began coaching as a graduate assistant at Emporia State, overseeing the safeties.
As a player, he was a four-year letterwinner for the Hornets and a two-time captain for the 2002 Mineral Water Bowl and 2003 MIAA Championship teams.
