Martin, who will retire from teaching at the end of the school year, was approved by the Marion Unit 2 school board to return to the sidelines next year.

Martin said in an interview following the Wildcats’ loss to Triad in the first round of the high school playoffs that he would take his time and make a decision. He did not want any sort of “farewell tour” during the season or to make an announcement one way or the other before the team’s end of the year banquet. Martin’s reasoning–he did not want take anything away from his players’ experience, especially the seniors. “I’ve had 30 seasons as a head coach, and they get one senior year, so I wanted to keep it about them,” Martin said in that interview back in November.

In his 30 years coaching at Marion, Carterville, Flora and Sparta, Martin has compiled a record of 210-101 with 25 playoff appearances in those 30 seasons. He led Carterville to the 1996 3A State Championship, and after missing the postseason his first three years at Marion, Martin’s Wildcats have made the playoffs 15 straight seasons.