SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Twenty-five years is a long time to remember an official visit.
Norv McKenzie does.
Cannot forget a subsequent football practice at Vanderbilt, either.
Mike Martin figures prominently into both, and his his approach then helps illuminate his career now.
"I remember being at a practice, and Mike literally almost took a wide receiver's head off," says McKenzie, Martin's former Vanderbilt teammate and Georgia Tech's current running backs coach, among college football's top developers of backfield talent. "The funny part, I guess it's not funny now, is the kid could’ve been hurt.
"The receiver got up, and he didn’t know his name. He was walking in circles, Basically, he was honestly concussed. It was just a different time then. But people still talk about it today. 'Do you remember when Mike Martin hit Jason Caldwell? He knocked the crap out of him.'
"We laugh about it because it was an unbelievable hit and because how the guy responded. People still laugh about how he got up and was walking in circles."
Nothing is circular about the current standing for Martin, completing his first month as the new general manager of Notre Dame football.
After some two decades of NFL experience, Martin is returning to college football.
”I never really thought about working in college, to be honest; it wasn’t something that was on my mind," Martin, veteran of four NFL franchises, says. "It wasn’t something I was actively pursuing. I did get reached out to and I thought about it.
"It’s never been about the NFL or college football. It’s always been about building and helping people develop."
Martin, facing a considerable ask as replacement for Chad Bowden, now USC"s general manager, on the heels of the Irish playing for the College Football Playoff Championship, is well-positioned for the challenge, according to those who know him best.
"I think he’s a good communicator, very well connected," says Jon Dykema, Martin's former Lions colleague and a salary-cap guru per those who know him with some 15 years' NFL experience and now in a senior associate athletics director and general counsel role at his alma mater, Michigan State. "I was more on the administration, cap side, but we overlapped on some things when it came to the (NFL) Draft, getting undrafted free agents after the draft.
"I think he’s obviously been around a long time, his brother (Chris) represents players, and he's very well connected, as far as the evaluation process, I wasn’t involved to that extent, but, to me, it’s more the person and the connections that I see on his part."
Martin likely is a much better fit at Notre Dame than James Blanchard, the guru of Texas Tech's consensus top NCAA Transfer Portal recruiting class and the recipient of Marcus Freeman's first offer to replace Bowden.
In Martin, the Irish have a seasoned pro with an elite academic background and rich NFL experience.
McKenzie knows Martin as a friend, teammate and NFL resource.
More importantly, the former Vanderbilt running back McKenzie knows Martin as a thorough professional.
"What he did was he spent a lot of time at that place watching tape and then being very detailed in terms of exactly what he or his organization was looking for," says McKenzie, who owns Power Conference experience at Tech, Vanderbilt and Louisville. "He had pages and pages of notes on that respective individual, very diligent in terms of doing the job at a high level. He was great in his ability to ask questions, but he would have his own notes of what he’d seen on tape to see if your answer matched his notes.
"Exactly what Mike saw on type was exactly what the player was. He just had an eye for talent and an eye for particularly what they were looking for."
McKenzie knows a specific example: Buffalo Bills rookie Ray Davis.
'Mike just has a knack to just be spot-on; he actually liked Ray Davis a lot and was spot-on with Ray’s evaluation," McKenzie says. "The biggest question on Ray was how fast he was, and Mike wasn’t the only one who questioned that, but Ray trained really hard and was able to get his 40 time down."
Now, the NFL is Martin's past. With the Fighting Irish yet to receive a bump from their CFP Championship appearance and still piecing together the staff around Martin, he is dialing in on the future of Notre Dame football.
“Can anyone in here tell me the significance of March 17th, St. Patty’s Day, on our recruiting program?," Martin asks a crowd of reporters inside Notre Dame Stadium. "'Pot of Gold Day,' we extend offers to the class of 2027. I think that’s a really cool thing, right? I think a lot of places send offers all throughout the year. I think Pot of Gold Day is a unique experience. We made an experience out of the whole thing.
“I just want to point out that this place is the first place to do that. I think it’s the best place to do it. I want you to remember that March 17th, St. Patty’s Day, belongs to the Irish.”
Martin's sending a message on behalf of Notre Dame; his football history reflects he'll do whatever it takes to deliver the point for the Fighting Irish.
