Martez Edwards is no stranger to high school football in Central Florida, having recruited the area more than a decade ago as a college assistant coach at both Jackson State and Howard.
On Wednesday he was named the new head football coach at East Ridge High School in Clermont. Edwards, who held the same position during stops in four other states since 2011, returns to high school football after off-field troubles pushed him out of the game in 2019.
Edwards replaces Jason Robinson, who stepped down from his post four weeks ago after going 15-17 the past three seasons.
“It’s a program that has a large population of students where the kids are sort of split with schools like Lake Minneola, and it’s got some tough competition with schools like [district opponent] Dr. Phillips,” Edwards said. “We’re just going to pull our bootstraps up and coach some ball.”
That is what Edwards has done in recent years while helping turn around football programs in both Alabama and Georgia after debuting as a prep head coach in Tennessee at Jackson Central-Merry in 2011.
Edwards, 40, was one of 60 applicants for the job, according to East Ridge co-athletic director Ty Ensor.
“He’ll bring charisma and energy to the program and be able to rally our kids to play for him,” said Ensor.
Edwards made an immediate mark at Alabama’s Bessemer City High in 2013 when he took over a team that won just nine total games the previous three years and finished with a 10-2 record in his first season. He missed two games the following year due to a reported domestic violence charge that was later dismissed. He led the Tigers to the playoffs in each of his four seasons.
Edwards then helped Georgia’s Forest Park High win multiple games in a season for the first time in four years while going 5-15 from 2017-18. He moved from Georgia to become head coach for Meridian High in Mississippi but was released from that position last summer before ever coaching a game after a nude photo of him reportedly surfaced online.
When asked by phone Wednesday night about the difficulty that comes with stepping into a new role after going through those off-the-field incidents, Edwards said he’d prefer to “just let the past be the past” and that he’s looking forward to returning to coaching after a year away.
“Don’t look at me because of [the] domestic violence charge I had. Don’t look at me because of a picture that was not intended for the community to see was put out,” Edwards said last June during a television interview with WTOK reporter Jessica Hunt. “Judge me on my substance. Judge me on the work that I’ve done. Judge me on the several kids that are playing Division I, II, III and NAIA football that I helped get there.”
Edwards, who has a combined 15 years of coaching experience in high school and college, was a four-year football starter at Lane College, where he graduated with honors in mathematics. He has helped nearly 100 players continue their athletic careers after high school, according to an East Ridge news release.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. J.C. Carnahan can be reached by email at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.
