Dennis Martel arrived in Central Illinois with a plan. It did not involve staying in corn country long.
A native of Maine, Martel figured to spend a year or two, get his master’s degree, then return to Maine to teach and coach.
“But, I really liked it here, and it’s worked out great,” Martel said. “It’s worked out fantastic.”
Martel’s scheduled pit stop has turned into 39 years at Illinois Wesleyan, the past 37 as head baseball coach. As his final season unfolds – he announced his retirement in January – Martel is good with the decision to step away.
Just one question nags. How did it go by so quickly?
“I look back and I think it was just non-stop,” he said. “Every year kept going by and when I was 30 years old, 31, 32, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55. I’m amazed how fast it’s gone.”
There have been a lot of wins along the way. The winningest coach in IWU history, Martel got No. 900 on March 16 to become the 16th NCAA Division III coach to reach that plateau. He is the 12th to register all of the wins at one school.
Martel has known for several years this would be his last. In his mind, he would announce his retirement after the final game and “walk off into the sunset,” he said.
But to do it, he would have to lie. And then continue to lie. He couldn’t bear it.
“I felt bad in December. I had three (recruits’) families come in to visit. I was lying to them and it bothered me,” Martel said. “I just couldn’t tell them (he was retiring). Finally, I said, ‘You guys have to keep a big secret for a month.’ I let them all know.
“That’s when I went to (IWU athletic director) Mike Wagner and said, ‘You probably need to announce this sooner than later.’”
There was no big announcement when Martel began at Illinois Wesleyan. While working toward his master’s in athletic administration at Illinois State, he hooked on as an assistant coach to then-IWU basketball coach Dennie Bridges.
Bridges was doubling as head baseball coach at the time and Martel also joined him in that sport.
“He (Bridges) said, ‘You run practice, I’ll coach the games’ because he was involved with basketball,” Martel said. “The following year, he said, ‘I really like what you did in baseball. Keep your nose clean, (and) one more year under me and you’ll be the next baseball coach.’”
That wasn’t Martel’s plan. Yet, in 1988 and in his 20s, he took over as head coach.
So began a tenure that has produced a 904-607-3 record prior to this weekend, a 440-241 mark in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, nine CCIW championships, 11 NCAA Division III Tournament berths and, best of all, the 2010 Division III national championship.
That IWU team entered the CCIW Tournament with a losing record, but won two elimination games on the final day to win the title and get into the NCAA tournament. Seeded last in the six-team regional, the Titans won four games to advance to the Division III World Series, which they won in Appleton, Wisconsin.
“Amazing,” Martel said. “Nineteen days and we were in a hotel for 16 of them. It was just one long road trip. I can still picture certain plays during that time that stick out. When I talk to some of those guys they look at me like, ‘How do you remember that?’ It was by far the greatest memory (of his career).”
Martel is grateful for the support of his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Sara, Jenna and Anna. His job required a lot of nights and weekends away, and even when at home, there were recruiting calls to make, schedules to arrange, etc.
Martel's successor
This year there are simply practices and games. Martel has turned over much of the coaching duties to sixth-year part-time assistant coach Michael Kellar, who will succeed him as head coach at season’s end.
Kellar was destined to be a coach. His father, Rodney, is the now-retired Hall of Fame basketball coach from Ridgeview High School.
Michael Kellar saw firsthand the demands of coaching, the time, work and sacrifices that are required. An associate dean in the IWU Admissions Office, Kellar also is familiar with Martel, and not just from the past six years.
“I don’t mean to date Coach Martel, but gosh, I went to his youth camps when I was little,” Kellar said. “I have known him for a really long time.”
Kellar turns 37 this month. To match Martel’s 37 years at the helm, he would have to coach until he’s 74.
“I started a little bit later,” he said, laughing. “I don’t know if I’ll last as long as Coach Martel.”
This spring has been a good trial run for Kellar. While Martel remains involved in game management, Kellar is handling recruiting, scheduling for next season, etc.
He called it a “glimpse” into being head coach.
“It’s been good getting my feet wet with that,” Kellar said. “Coach Martel has always said, ‘It’s a whole lot different (moving) that 18 inches over into a different chair.’ There are a lot of things that go into it, but getting that experience is always good.”
A three-sport standout at Ridgeview, Kellar pitched at Division I Niagara University and was an assistant coach for three years at Siena. He returned to Central Illinois as an assistant coach and pitching coach for four years at Illinois State before joining IWU in Admissions and on Martel’s staff.
Getting back to baseball full-time is exciting for Kellar, who is hopeful Martel’s veteran part-time assistants, Matt Willey and Tim Siegworth, will continue with the program. Martel called them “really good coaches, but better friends,” adding, “I can’t thank them enough.”
“They’ve been great resources for Coach Martel. They’ve been very welcoming to me as well since I came in,” Kellar said.
“The (players) that are here and are going to be here, I’ve been with them. There is no transition with that. I think my relationship does change a little bit. There’s a different responsibility, you have different things to worry about that as an assistant coach you don’t. There are some things that will change obviously, but it makes it a lot easier that it’s not a new program with new faces.”
Martel has been impressed with Kellar’s baseball knowledge and the relationships he’s built with the players. Kellar will be juggling the time commitment with a family that includes his wife, Lindsey, and three daughters, Graceyn Rose, 6; Hadley Michelle, 4; and Kennedy Elizabeth, 1.
Lindsey Kellar is IWU’s former women’s lacrosse coach and now serves as associate director of health sciences and assistant athletic director for student-athlete wellness.
“Having a wife who has coached and was an athlete, I think that helps,” Michael Kellar said.
That said, next year will be an adjustment. It will be for Martel as well.
“I’ll be happy to walk in for a 1 o’clock doubleheader and not get there at 9 o’clock,” he said. “I’m going to walk in at 12:59 and if it’s kind of breezy, I’m going to walk in the press box, sit down and not have to worry about anything else.”
That’s the plan.
This time, it’s likely to stick.
