Posted by: Chris Vannini on February 4, 2013

To say New Mexico State losing head coach DeWayne Walker to the NFL was bad timing would be an understatement.

Three days after being named full-time head coach, Doug Martin was introduced as the new coach on Monday. Martin had an interim tag since Jan. 24.

That didn't give Martin much time to work with its recruiting class. He also has to fill some vacancies on the staff. Still, he was optimistic.

"I think this program has unlimited potential," Martin said. "What we've got to do is take the potential and make it a reality. Our first step is today. As I told our players, every day is game day. That's the approach we're going to take. We're going to compete in the classroom, we're going to compete on the field, we're going to compete in the community.

"We're going to be reaching out to the people of Las Cruces. What my goal is is for the people of Las Cruces to own this football team. The only way we can do that is the extend the opportunity for them to do that."

Martin was the Kent State head coach from 2004-10, posting a 29-53 record. He was the offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach at NMSU in 2011 and had the same title at Boston College in 2012. He returned to NMSU as offensive coordinator before Walker left for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

This is certainly a tall order for Martin. New Mexico State hasn't reached a bowl since 1960, which is the longest drought in FBS. With the WAC dropping football, the school is set to be an independent football program.

But that didn't damper what was a happy 50th birthday for Martin. His daughter also flew in for his press conference and birthday.

_______________

Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com