Head Coach Trio Leads Eagle Football’s Decades Of Success, Stability

Going into the 1959 season, Ashland College’s football program hadn’t seen much in the way of wins or long-term stability.

In the previous 39 years (minus nearly three full seasons due to World War II), there had been 11 head coaches for the Purple Titans/Eagles, for a grand total of two conference championships (1954-55 under Robert Brownson), 115 victories and a cumulative winning percentage of .441.

Then, in 1959, Dr. Fred Martinelli ushered in what has continued to be one of the most impressive marks of head-coaching stability in all of college football. Martinelli, Gary Keller and Lee Owens are the only head coaches of Ashland College/University football in the last six-plus decades.

“It’s always about a fit,” Owens said. “I think in all three coaches, from a geography perspective, from our backgrounds, where we coached, we we’d been, Ashland was a great fit.

“It definitely speaks to the quality of life in Ashland, Ohio. We all want to stick around here. It’s a great place to live, a great place to raise a family. That’s first and foremost. This is a place where I definitely wanted to raise my children and settle, and it’s close to home for me.”

– Martinelli (35 seasons, 1959-93) is in the College Football Hall of Fame, and it’s not hard to see why – a 217-119-12 (.641) lifetime record, two undefeated seasons (1967 and 1972), 10 conference championships, 11 conference Coach of the Year awards and the program’s first NCAA Division II postseason berth in 1986. To this day, Martinelli is one of only 61 head football coaches at all NCAA levels to win at least 217 games.

“Ashland fans, Ashland people care about their program,” Martinelli said, “and they have strongly supported the coach and the team throughout. That has been a factor.”

– Keller (10 seasons, 1994-2003) served as Martinelli’s defensive coordinator, then took the 1997 Eagles to the NCAA D-II playoffs in exciting fashion – four of their last five wins were by eight points or less, including a 27-20 Homecoming victory over Saginaw Valley State. Keller was 51-55 (481) at the Ashland helm, won the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference title in 1997, and was the MIFC Coach of the Year that season.

“I feel honored to be a part of the great tradition that has existed at Ashland for that amount of time,” Keller said. “Only three head coaches during that span stands as a testament to the quality of the football program.

“I would say that the coaches that have been a part of Ashland’s proud past had a great love for not only the football program, but the types of young men that we had the opportunity to work with on a daily basis. To me, the players made Ashland football special. Another important factor for the stability was the quality of education, as well as the care and love that our players received during their stay.”

– Owens (17 seasons, 2004-current) is 122-54 (.693) leading the Eagles, and boasts two undefeated regular seasons (2012 and 2015), five NCAA Division II postseason berths, two NCAA postseason victories, three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles, three American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) region Coach of the Year honors and four GLIAC Coach of the Year citations.

Two of the philosophies which have carried over from Martinelli to Keller to Owens, despite the changes in the sport in more than a half-century, are have great defenses and run the football well.

“There’s no question, Ashland’s had a reputation for great defense,” said Owens. “Coach (Tim) Rose has been able to continue that reputation, which is really important. We probably, offensively, have taken it to a more modern era with the way we’ve thrown the ball, the balance we’ve had, but you still have to run the ball and play defense, and that hasn’t changed.”

The National Football League standard-bearer for head-coaching stability is the Pittsburgh Steelers, with three since 1969 – and Ashland has them beat by a decade.

Martinelli lauded then-Ashland College President Glenn Clayton and Athletic Director Robert Brownson for the emphasis they put on the football program in the 1950s, giving rise to what is seen today.

“Under Clayton and Brownson, we gradually moved to the point where (now), we’re one of the premier programs in Division II,” said Martinelli. “Dr. Clayton, it started with him.”

While Martinelli was at Ashland for three-and-a-half decades, he said there were a couple opportunities to move higher on the coaching ladder.

“There were two instances,” he said. “One, where Doyt Perry, who was the Athletic Director at Bowling Green, interviewed me, asked me if he offered the job to me…what would keep me from taking a job at Bowling Green? And at the time, I told him my daughter had leukemia, and I was uncertain of making the move.

“The other time, I was interviewed by Syracuse on two occasions. Did not get the job. The assistant at Michigan (Frank Maloney) got it. Looking back, I really wasn’t prepared (to leave). I didn’t know the right questions to ask about staff, financial aid or any of that. I think there’s been a divine intervention that has kept me at Ashland, fortunately. This is the place for me. I’m fortunate, the way my career has gone.”

Martinelli’s 1967 (8-0-1) and 1972 (11-0) teams finished their schedules without a loss.

“To go undefeated is something different,” he said. “We had to come back against Heidelberg on Homecoming (19-19 tie) to go undefeated in ’67. In ’72, a tip of a fingernail on a pass in our first game against Franklin…our ’72 team, wow. We played the best teams in a five- or six-state area. I had five or six players in 1972 who could have played in the Mid-American (Conference), easily.”

Ashland’s first NCAA playoff team was the 1986 squad – and the way the Eagles found out about their postseason berth was much different that it is today.

“They played undue circumstances. Our season had ended, (and) it didn’t look likely that we would be selected,” Martinelli said of the team which went 9-1 in the regular season. “We collected equipment, the kids went home for Thanksgiving, on Sunday afternoon I was in Columbus and came home, and the phone rang, and Dennis Pope from the NCAA called and said, ‘Fred, you’ve been selected.’

“Everything that had to happen, and there were three or four of them…we had to scramble and call our kids back and practice at Luray Lanes all week. We never practiced on a lined field until we got to North Dakota State. I have a special thing for that team.”

Both Martinelli and defensive end Bill Royce are in the College Football Hall of Fame. It’s quite a feat for Ashland University two have two members in the Hall, when, according to the Hall itself, only 0.02% of college football’s players and coaches have been enshrined.

“The visibility of our program is unbelievable,” Martinelli said. “The thing that separated Bill Royce – 71 sacks. The schedule we played, the people we beat…we beat Grand Valley when Brian Kelly was the head coach two out of four years. We could provide a good argument for Bill Royce because of the great schedule we played, and the great coaches (we played). His 71 sacks came against people who were very prominent, and teams that were very prominent.”

For all of the success Martinelli had, he did share one regret.

“In retrospect, I probably did too much. I was Athletic Director, chair of the Physical Education department, taught 8-10 hours, and the head football coach. I’m looking back, and I’m thinking that I really didn’t do justice to the program, when I’ve got that many responsibilities.”

Keller was one of only three defensive coordinators Martinelli had at Ashland, along with two other Ashland Hall of Famers, Bob Stokes and John Valentine. Keller’s defenses led NCAA Division II in total defense in both 1991 and 1992, and rushing defense in 1992.

When Martinelli retired, it was a natural fit for Keller to take over the program.

“Coach Martinelli was a great influence on me as a coach,” Keller said. “He was very disciplined in his approach to the game and oversaw the development not only for the football program, but also as AD, he was responsible for the entire athletic program. Also, the personal relationship with Coach Martinelli and his wife Ruth was and is something very special to me.”

Said Martinelli, “Gary was a great coach. Gary could coach defense anywhere in the country.”

In all, Keller spent 23 seasons on the Ashland coaching staff.

Owens has spent all of his football coaching life in Ohio, and having grown up nearby at Mansfield Madison High School, and having coached nearby at Crestview and Galion High Schools, he was well acquainted with the Eagles prior to coming here.

“I grew up 10 miles south of here, and watched games as a high school player here, and followed the team when coach Martinelli was here,” Owens said. “I had players recruited by both coach Martinelli and coach Keller when I was a high school coach. Both really good football coaches, both with great reputations. One is a (College Football) Hall of Famer. Regardless of how much success you have, you feel like you’re always going to be in the shadows of a coach with that kind of recognition.

“What we’ve always tried to do is live up to that reputation and that tradition, and the success that they had before us.”

Owens has led the Eagles to the program’s two NCAA postseason victories – 27-16 over Minnesota State-Mankato in 2008 in the team’s final game at Community Stadium, and 21-18 over Northwest Missouri State in 2017 at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field.

“We’ve all been a part of championship teams,” Owens said. “We’ve not had great success in the postseason. It’s something, as we start into the next 100 years of football here, that would be a goal, is to not only get into the postseason, but advance into regionals and semifinals and national championship game. That’s ultimately where I see the program headed next.”

There have been many milestone victories for Ashland in Owens’ tenure, the most recent of which was the win over Northwest Missouri State, which not only was the first postseason win in the fairly-new facility on Broad Street, but also came against a two-time defending NCAA Division II national champion.

“That has to be as big a win as we’ve ever had. But there’s been a bunch of them,” said Owens. “There have been some wins like that that you look back on. There’s definitely been milestones reached, and the bar set pretty high. We had a pretty long home winning streak (12 games) here.”

All three head coaches have had the privilege of working with two current Eagle assistants – John Saccomen and Scott Valentine – at various stages in their football lives. Saccomen has coached under all three, while Valentine played for Martinelli and coached for Keller and Owens.

Martinelli said, “John, he coached defensive linemen at the next level, no question about it. Fortunately, we’ve had those kind of people.”

“It is the people that make programs special,” said Keller. “During my time at Ashland, I had the opportunity to work with John Valentine for three years, so it is easy to understand why Scott, his son, is a special coach. As a player, Scott played with grit and determination, and his coaching was no different. He excelled as a high school coach, and I am sure he will do the same at the collegiate level.

“John Saccomen was a part of my coaching staff for 22 years, and now I believe he is closing in on 40 years of coaching at Ashland. What more needs to be said for John’s commitment and insights to the game? I am very happy for John, but even more pleased for all the kids’ lives that he has influenced as a coach during that time.”

Said Owens, “It gives you a common reference point, it gives you someone who can continue to remind you about, here’s how we’ve done it, here’s someone who’s been a part of our program that we need to continue to engage.”

The century mark of Ashland football – and their place within it – is special for the men who have made up more than 60 percent of the head-coaching tenure in the program.

“It is hard to express the memories and relationships I experienced while at Ashland University,” said Keller. “I wish growth and success to the program as the next 100 years kick off.”

Added Owens, “There’s very few programs in the country which could boast of such continuity. The times are going to change. You can’t do that at Division I anymore. And everything that happens at that level eventually trickles down to our level. It’s what have you done for me recently. The pressure of trying to win…has really eliminated the opportunity for someone to go into a program and stay at that program. And it’s unfortunate.”

(Photo courtesy of Ashland Athletics/GoAshlandEagles.com)