Adrian Martinez: On Hard Work, A Cal Visit, and a New Coaching Staff

Cal already has two 2018 commits, both from the previous staff, but they have their cornerstone to build off of in Clovis West QB Adrian Martinez. The four-star quarterback had a breakout fall, being named player of the year by the Fresno Bee, passing for 2484 yards and 25 TDs, completing 61.3% of his passes, along with rushing for 1385 yards and 16 TDs on 7.4 yards per carry. Cal hosted Martinez on a visit recently, where they worked to solidify Martinez's commitment.

"It was when Cal played Stanford at Cal, the basketball game," Martinez recounted, "I went up that day with my dad. We got to meet the new coaching staff, then we went to the basketball game, and we got to sit pretty close and enjoyed that game, and enjoyed beating Stanford, which is always nice, so we had a really good time."

Martinez committed to Cal last November after the Big Game with Jake Spavital as his primary recruiter, but with Sonny Dykes being fired and Spavital not getting the head coaching job, there was uncertainty in play. His high school coach, George Petrissans, told him to pick a school more than the coaches, and having the opportunity to talk to the new coaches certainly helped the Bears out.

"Coach Wilcox is a funny guy, he’s a real cool guy from what I experienced with my dad," Martinez said, "He left a good impression on us both. Coach Baldwin was awesome, we had a really in-depth talk schematically as far as how I fit in their scheme, but also on a personal level, where I am in my life, and where he is with his family, which was really cool because we got to know each other on a different level."

Martinez is a dual-threat quarterback, something Cal hasn't had in the past, and he projects into Beau Baldwin's offense nicely, with the use of read option plays and designed QB runs to become more frequent going forward.

Martinez also got the opportunity to talk with his future quarterbacks coach, Marques Tuiasosopo.

"Coach Tui was great too. He was very honest and he gave my dad and I a very good idea of what it’s going to take at the next level and where he stands with his coaching style. Then, when we went to the basketball game, coach Tui sat next to me the whole time, and we got to get to know each other better, as far as our personal lives, so that was cool."

Tuiasosopo also gave the young QB a bit of a compliment while they were sitting together:

"He said I kind of reminded him of himself, so I thought that was pretty cool."

As mentioned before, Martinez broke out during the fall, going from being unranked in the Rivals rankings, to being the 9th ranked dual threat QB in the 2018 class and the 28th ranked player in the state. One of his goals going into the season was to become a more proficient passer, which he did, upping his completion percentage from 51% to 61%, and cutting his interceptions from 7 to 4. Martinez credits his success to a second year of familiarity in his offense and

"It was just work, you know. I have some natural athletic ability obviously," Martinez said, "but I needed to become more of a passer, I needed to become more of a true quarterback, and I put in that work in the offseason. I dove into the offense a little bit more, it was my second year, so I felt that really helped, and I really gained some confidence in my ability to be a true quarterback, stand in there, and make the throws. So I thought doing that translated to the field and my overall performance that season."

It did, as Martinez's Clovis West squad went 8-4, making it to the section semifinals before falling to a talented Central team in overtime. For his efforts, Martinez was named Tri-River Athletic Conference Player of the Year in addition to the Fresno Bee accolade, which put him on the cover of the local paper.

"It was a great honor to be named player of the year. I got to be on the cover of the newspaper," Martinez said. "and I have a bunch of people coming up to me wanting me to sign the newspaper, just cool little stuff I thought. It’s stuff that, when I was in sixth grade, I dreamt of being, and now I just want to keep going with it."

The season was capped off with a trip to the Under Armour Future 50 camp in Orlando, something that Martinez recounted as "one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I got to meet a bunch of people from all over the country and elite players too, they were really cool and really good. So it was a lot of fun. And I got to kinda validate my spot and validate where I stand. I thought it was a very beneficial camp for me, as far as learning, and experiencing those different things."

He also got to meet a Cal great at the camp.

"I also got to talk to Herm Edwards a lot, he was really cool," Martinez recounted. "I introduced myself after he talked to the whole group and I ended up meeting his family and I talked to them for a while. So we went past the surface level relationship, so that was pretty cool."

Currently, Martinez is focused on basketball season, as he stars for his Clovis West team. They currently sit at 25-3 with a playoff game set for Friday with the opponent to be determined. It'll be the final year of basketball for Martinez, who's choosing to focus on football his senior year.

"I’m trying to enjoy it," Martinez said. "I want to make this a memorable one, one where we can get that elusive Valley championship which everyone wants, that’s our goal. I’m playing under a really good coach right now, coach (Vance) Walberg, coached in the NBA for a while. He’s doing real justice to the people in the program, the students involved in it and the players, we’ve just had a really good time. It’s always fun when you’re winning the games, so we’re bringing some excitement back into the Clovis West basketball program. So I’m just trying to have fun. I want to win and have fun and that’s what I’ve been doing."

That Valley championship, along with a state title, is a goal for the young quarterback in his senior year for a team that returns 18 starters.

"I would say, to win a Valley championship, to win a state section title, that is definitely going to be our goal and to win a league championship. Those kinda go hand in hand, so I think if we can do that, it’ll be great. I know that’s our team goal, that’s my goal personally. You know, I couldn’t care less about the stats as long as we win. I think we have the talent, we have the experience now, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get that title. Anything that comes after that is great. We want that section championship, we want to get a ring. All my goals are team goals. I want to win the valley championship, that’s my biggest thing."

Getting there is going to be the biggest thing, but after the jump Martinez made between his sophomore and junior years, he has a chance to make a similar leap as a senior.

"I think it’s always a process to improve your game one way or another. I would say my biggest thing is perfecting the footwork, getting that down, not getting lazy with that, because when my feet get lazy, that’s when the throws aren’t going to be 100% accurate. So I need to make sure that I’m always on point and that every day at practice, my mind is focused on getting better and making sure my footwork is where I want it to be, not taking any day for granted. I want to work on being a better leader. I think I did a really good job last year personally, and my coach thought so too, but I think that’s always an evolving process that I can continue to get better at. You see the greats like Tom Brady and Drew Brees, all they’re doing is working to get better. There’s no reason why I can’t be getting better, and there’s a ton of things I can get better at. If those guys are finding things to get better at, I can sure as hell find a lot of things to get better at."