Quarterback Adrian Martinez seemed to be in college football forever but he’s finally moving on to the professional leagues. On Tuesday, Martinez was selected by the New Jersey Generals as the 15th overall pick in the 2023 USFL college draft.
With the 15th pick of the 2023 USFL College Draft we select, @MartinezTheQB #InTheTrenches🎖🫡 pic.twitter.com/w7XGppZ9uj
— New Jersey Generals (@USFLGenerals) February 21, 2023
The move is especially interesting given who his new head coach will be. Martinez ended his college career with Kansas State but was initially the quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers for four seasons beforehand.
The year before Martinez arrived in Lincoln, Mike Riley was fired as the head coach of the Huskers. The quarterback was one of the centerpieces of Scott Frost’s 2018 recruiting class afterward.
The fact that these two former Cornhuskers will be reunited in New Jersey got a lot of people in the football world wondering.
I wonder what he and his new head coach will bond over? https://t.co/mM0xANA5LJ
— CornNation (@CornNation) February 21, 2023
Mike Riley just drafted Adrian Martinez 🤯🤯🤯🤯 https://t.co/4XtIiVnm17
— HuskGuys (@HuskGuys) February 21, 2023
Congrats to Adrian Martinez, who is going to play for Mike Riley in the USFL…GBR! #ProBigRed https://t.co/bGwlieI8c0 pic.twitter.com/k7ksvXu6iI
— Go Big Redcast 🎙 (@GoBigRedCast) February 21, 2023
The Generals finished the inaugural regular season of the new USFL with a 9-1 record, tied for tops in the league. They were upset in the first round of the playoffs, however, and had to watch the Birmingham Stallions win the league championship. However, Riley was named USFL Coach of the Year.
It’ll be interesting to see if Martinez can crack through and get some playing time this season with the Generals. Last year, quarterback Luis Perez and De’Andre Johnson split time as the signal-caller for the team.