疯客直播 Fe High coach Andrew Martinez makes a defensive adjustment against to Los Lunas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, at Ivan Head Stadium. As a result of a police report on a hazing incident involving 疯客直播 Fe High football players, 疯客直播 Fe Public Schools placed Martinez on paid leave from that position for a second time as well as paid leave from his job as the high school鈥檚 athletic director. He announced his resignation on Wednesday.
疯客直播 Fe High coach Andrew Martinez makes a defensive adjustment against to Los Lunas on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, at Ivan Head Stadium. As a result of a police report on a hazing incident involving 疯客直播 Fe High football players, 疯客直播 Fe Public Schools placed Martinez on paid leave from that position for a second time as well as paid leave from his job as the high school鈥檚 athletic director. He announced his resignation on Wednesday.
Andrew Martinez鈥檚 eight-year run as head football coach at 疯客直播 Fe High School ended Wednesday afternoon.
Martinez announced on X, formerly Twitter, he resigned both his coaching and athletic director positions at the school amid the fallout from an alleged assault involving players in his program in October. He was put on paid administrative leave twice after the incident, the second time coming after 疯客直播 Fe police released details of its investigation into the incident Oct. 24, in which a teen boy told police several students had held him down while another assaulted him.
In an interview with聽The New Mexican, Martinez declined to comment on the incident but said he chose to resign to help the football and athletic programs move forward immediately rather than waiting to see whether he would return to either or both positions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 best for everybody at this point,鈥 Martinez said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 best for the program, but most importantly, it was just the right thing to do at this point. I want them to move forward.鈥
Martinez had been on leave for a week after 疯客直播 Fe Public Schools announced Oct. 8 it was investigating with 疯客直播 Fe police regarding an incident that 疯客直播 Fe Deputy Chief Ben Valdez later described as a 鈥渟exual offense.鈥
He returned to the sidelines Oct. 14 and coached his last game against Los Lunas, a 46-0 loss that was the sixth of eight straight losses to end the season for the Demons.
Martinez said 疯客直播 Fe Superintendent Hilario 鈥淟arry鈥 Chavez had been very supportive throughout the process.
Martinez accumulated a 17-52 record at 疯客直播 Fe High in his first job as a head coach, having been an assistant at St. Michael鈥檚 from 2001-2016. Martinez, who attended 疯客直播 Fe High and is a 1991 graduate of Capital, recently took over athletic director duties at the school in August.
鈥淥ur time will always be special to my wife and I,鈥 Martinez wrote on X. 鈥淭hank all of you who have supported us all along the way. We will miss our boys, but we know they are resilient strong men that will do great things in life.鈥
Martinez鈥檚 best season was in 2021 when he led the Demons to a 6-4 record in its first year in Class 6A after a four-year absence and almost reached the state playoffs. It was just the third winning season posted by the program since 1986.
His eight-year stint tied former head coach Ray Holladay, who Martinez replaced in 2017, for the longest tenure with the program since David Church鈥檚 run from 1974-80. Church led the Demons to their only state title in 1979 and accumulated a 50-12 record.
Martinez said he feels he revived a connection between the program and the community, with much of that coming through community service projects. He added he felt he helped create a special program that went beyond the wins and losses.
鈥淚 think the more important thing is we provided those kids with a great sense of life,鈥 Martinez said. 鈥淲ould I have liked more success? Of course. But those are things you can only prepare for. How they shake out is how they shake out.鈥
Martinez said he has not considered a return to coaching given everything that was happening, adding he was just focusing on his and his wife鈥檚 鈥渉ealing.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 been tough all the way around,鈥 Martinez said.
