The 2015 Grand Valley State Athletics Hall of Fame class will be inducted on the weekend of October 23-24. It is a terrific class of five student-athletes and one head coach, all of which represented GVSU in an outstanding manner during their time in Allendale. GVSULakers.com will profile all six members of the upcoming Hall of Fame class in alphabetical order, continuing with football coach Chuck Martin.
 
2015 GVSU Hall of Fame Class: Cullen Finnerty | Chuck Martin | Nate Peck | Allyson Riley | Erika Ryskamp | Katy Tafler
 
In 10 seasons on the Grand Valley State football coaching staff, Chuck Martin helped the Lakers advance to six Division II National Championship games, including four championship game victories.
 
After being promoted from defensive coordinator in 2003 to head coach in 2004 when Brian Kelly took the Central Michigan head coaching position, Martin continued the string of football success in Allendale. Kelly, Martin, and the Lakers went 41-2 with a pair of national championships in Kelly's final three seasons, but GVSU actually reached never-before-seen heights during Martin's tenure as head coach.
 
Martin took over the Laker program in 2004 and coached 81 games over the next six seasons. GVSU won 74 of those games, giving Martin an incredible 74-7 head coaching record - good for a .914 winning percentage. Had Martin reached the 10-year minimum needed to qualify for the NCAA record book, his winning percentage would easily be the best in Division II history.
 
Assessing Martin's head coaching career at GVSU can be done in a few different ways. His year-by-year win totals are as follows: 10, 13, 15, 12, 11, 13. Six consecutive double-digit winning seasons is an outstanding feat. However, undoubtedly more impressive are his year-by-year losses: 3, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2.
 
"I'm fortunate to call Chuck Martin a mentor and a friend. Supreme confidence, unparalleled interpersonal relationships with players, and proficiency as a coordinator on BOTH sides of the ball are just a few of the hallmarks that make Chuck unique in the coaching profession," said his successor and current Laker head coach Matt Mitchell, who was on Martin's staff during his GVSU tenure.
 
"Chuck could coach any sport and have success. He is a gifted 'coach' in every sense of the word," explained Mitchell. "When Chuck was named the head coach at Grand Valley State, he had a vision for a championship program on and off the field - and that vision was achieved because of his leadership."
 
The Lakers went 10-3 in 2004, with a slim 19-15 playoff defeat at North Dakota ending Martin's first season as head coach. That loss came on Nov. 27, 2004. Grand Valley State would not lose another game for quite some time.
 
GVSU went undefeated in the 2005 regular season with just one victory - a 14-10 win at Ashland - being decided by less than two touchdowns. The Lakers earned revenge in the first playoff game with a 17-3 win over North Dakota, followed by a 24-17 win over Saginaw Valley State, and a 55-20 drubbing of East Stroudsburg.
 
All those games came in Lubbers Stadium, but Grand Valley State headed back down to Florence, Alabama for the 2005 National Championship game. The Lakers trailed Northwest Missouri State 17-14 in the fourth quarter, but a Cullen Finnerty-to-Brandon Langston 35-yard touchdown strike gave GVSU the 21-17 victory, the team's third national title in four seasons, and a perfect 13-0 record.
 
Similar to 2005, the 2006 Laker squad rolled through the regular season, with a 30-24 win over Ashland being the only game GVSU did not win by at least two touchdowns. Again at home for nearly the entire playoff run, Grand Valley State topped South Dakota (35-17), North Dakota (30-20), and Delta State (49-30) to earn its fifth national championship game appearance in six seasons.
 
Martin and the Lakers had a familiar foe - Northwest Missouri State - waiting in Florence. Both teams were 14-0; GVSU was ranked #1, the Bearcats were #2. A fourth quarter touchdown run by Finnerty pushed the Lakers past NMSU for the 17-14 championship game win. Grand Valley State became just the second Division II program to post a perfect 15-0 season.
 
In 2007, the Lakers rattled off wins in their first 12 games, including playoff victories over North Dakota (21-14) and Central Washington (41-21). For the third straight season, GVSU and Northwest Missouri State met in the playoffs, but this time around the Bearcats ended the Lakers' season with a 34-16 triumph.
 
That loss snapped Grand Valley State's Division II record 40-game winning streak, as GVSU did not lose a game from Aug. 27, 2005 to Dec. 1, 2007. No Division II school before or since has won 40 consecutive games.
 
During that unbeaten streak under Martin, the Lakers beat their 40 opponents by an average score of 36-13. Only seven of those games were decided by 10 points or less.
 
Martin led the Lakers to an 11-1 record in 2008 and a 13-2 record in 2009, with another championship game appearance, which ended in a 30-23 loss to Northwest Missouri State.
 
In total, Martin's Grand Valley State teams went 16-4 in the Division II playoffs from 2004 to 2009, including 10 straight postseason victories during the 40-game win streak. His Laker teams outscored their playoff opponents by nearly 10 points per game in that stretch.
 
Kelly went from Central Michigan to Cincinnati and then became the head coach at Notre Dame, taking Martin with him after GVSU's 2009 postseason run. Martin worked his way into the offensive coordinator role at Notre Dame, culminating in a berth in the 2012 BCS National Championship game against Alabama.
 
A two-time American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year while at Grand Valley State, Martin will start his second season as the Miami (Ohio) head coach in 2015.