GRINNELL COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Defensive Coordinator Jason Martinez at the Careers in Sports Forum

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Defensive Coordinator Jason Martinez at the Careers in Sports Forum

Jason Martinez drawing it up!

While former Pioneer Abby Jaeger '14 was busy learning at the NCAA Careers in Sports Forum, Pioneer Football defensive coordinator Jason Martinez served as a facilitator.

Martinez has just completed his fourth year as an assistant coach at Grinnell College. Under his tutelage the Pioneer Black Shirt Defense has seen a dramatic transformation, into one of the more aggressive and feared units in the Midwest Conference. This past season the Pioneers finished second overall in both interceptions (18) and total takeaways (29). Martinez has also helped physically transform many athletes from across the department as the head strength and conditioning coach.

The Careers in Sports Forum was a nice opportunity for Jason to have an impact on the development of student-athletes across the country, and to learn from them as well.

The Honor G

The Honor G, the official emblem of Grinnell College athletics, was first used at the Iowa state track championship in 1892. Designed by Earnest "Skip" Atherton, class of 1895, the original Honor G consisted of a scarlet maltese cross with a black "I and "C" (for Iowa College) superimposed on the cross. Two years later in 1894, the "I" and "C" were replaced by a black gothic "G", and the modern day Honor G was born. The gothic "G", which was also used on letter sweaters and is now used on letter jackets, was replaced by an Old English "G" in the mid-1930's. After some protest, it was quickly changed back to the gothic "G", and it has remained unchanged since that time.