While Clarence Martin very much enjoyed both of his jobs at Wakefield High School, he recently made the decision to concentrate on just one of them.
Martin has stepped down as the head varsity football coach for the Warriors after three seasons in charge.
He told ARLnow that he gave up the football position in order to focus on his full-time job as Wakefield’s assistant director of student activities (DSA). He said he would eventually like the opportunity to become a head DSA at a high school.
“My dream was to be a head high school football coach. Both are great jobs,” he said. “By doing both, I made the decision I now want to work in athletic administration 100% of the time, so that’s what I will concentrate on.”
Martin had never worked in athletic administration until a few months ago, when he took over as Wakefield’s interim head DSA amid departmental changes. Previously, his full-time job at Wakefield was in the guidance department.
After switching to athletic administration, Martin quickly developed a passion for the work, leading to his decision to step away from football.
“Being head football coach and working in athletic administration basically are two full-time jobs,” Martin said. “I felt like the time was right, and I now have the passion to concentrate on administration and to do this.”
Martin said his successor as head football coach will likely be chosen by mid-February. A couple of assistant coaches on his staff at Wakefield could be interested in applying for the head coaching position, he told ARLnow.
Martin took over as Wakefield’s football coach for the 2023 season, inheriting a program that was not competitive the year before, going 0-10 with multiple lopsided losses.
The Warriors also finished 0-10 in Martin’s first season, but the squad was much more competitive.
Wakefield won two games in 2024, then won three times and battled for a playoff berth this past season, losing some close games.
“We were building something,” Martin said of his three years on the sidelines at Wakefield.
Former longtime Yorktown High School head football coach Bruce Hanson was a big fan of Martin’s work at Wakefield. Hanson immediately saw Wakefield’s improvement during Martin’s first season, despite the winless record.
“He should have been named the district’s Coach of the Year that season,” Hanson said. “His team was so much better than the season before.”
Wakefield was the fourth high-school football team where Martin was a head varsity coach, all in Northern Virginia. He previously coached at Lee (now Lewis), then J.E.B. Stuart (now Justice) in Fairfax County, and Potomac High School in Dumfries.
Martin played high-school football at T.C. Williams (now renamed Alexandria City), then in college at Salisbury University in Maryland.
Prior to coaching at Wakefield, Martin was an assistant football coach at Marshall High School in Falls Church for two seasons.
