Why 'Heat-Seeking Missile' Nick Martin is next star linebacker for Oklahoma State football

STILLWATER — Mike Gundy and Josh Gibson were equally dumbfounded with linebacker Nick Martin’s lack of recruiting out of high school.

Speed? Check.

Physicality? Off the charts.

Tackling ability? No doubt.

For a linebacker prospect, he had every trait most major college coaches would be looking for — except one.

“He wasn’t freakishly tall,” said Gibson, who was Martin’s head coach at Pleasant Grove High School in Texarkana, Texas.

Gundy was happy to bring the 6-foot, 215-pound Martin to Oklahoma State, knowing a couple inches in height was something that could be overcome.

Three years after Martin signed with Gundy and the Cowboys, the linebacker has emerged as one of the best defensive players, not just in orange and black, but throughout the Big 12 Conference.

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With OSU entering its final game of the regular season, in contention for a Big 12 title game berth, Martin leads the league in tackles with 112. He’s top 20 nationally in tackles for loss with 14.5 and he’s tied with teammate Collin Oliver for the most sacks on the team with 6.0.

The Cowboys play host to BYU at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium, and the OSU defense will face another unique challenge. The Cougars aren’t a dangerous offense, but they mix in some odd looks and triple-option concepts that force defenders to be in the right position.

Martin, it seems, is always where he’s supposed to be.

And when he isn’t, he gets there. Fast.

Gundy has spoken multiple times this year about Martin’s toughness, his throwback middle linebacker mentality. But it’s his speed — and in particular, his closing speed when he sets off in pursuit of a ballcarrier — that has set him apart in his breakout redshirt sophomore season.

He showed it off a few times at Houston, including a delayed blitz in the third quarter that resulted in a sack for a 10-yard loss, eventually forcing a punt that led to an OSU field goal for a 36-23 lead.

Plays like that are how he earned his nickname earlier this year: The Missile.

“Insane,” Oliver said of Martin’s closing speed. “We call him the Heat-Seeking Missile. You turn on the film and you see nothing short of that. You may even see a rocket, I don’t know. He’s a dog and he’s gonna continue to make plays like that.”

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Senior cornerback Korie Black says Martin’s speed compares to that of the perimeter players at receiver and defensive back — but not Black himself.

“No, I’m the fastest on the team,” Black said. “Let’s get that squared away.

“We was watching film today and I noticed that it’s like Nick is there in the snap of a second. He’s always around the ball. He could be on the other side of the field and he’s gonna get to the ball.”

Ironically, it wasn’t Martin’s speed that set him apart as a younger player.

“Nick was actually not a fast football player when he played as a seventh and eighth grader for us,” Gibson said. “He had huge growth his ninth-grade year and really took off his sophomore year. His physical power obviously helped his speed. He’s a workaholic in the weight room.”

Martin also played running back at Pleasant Grove, and he ran track in the spring, which helped him understand explosion.

“I think that translated a lot to defense,” Martin said. “Me and my buddies would train all the time. I think it was always in there that I wanted to be a speed-power guy.”

The summer after his sophomore year, Martin ran a 4.54-second 40-yard dash in a big camp at Memphis, and Gibson began to realize how special a player he was dealing with.

But Martin’s height continued to detract from his recruiting value.

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“People were worried about his size,” Gibson said. “Ultimately, to me, he ended up where he needed to. “Oklahoma State pulls less five-stars than Texas, A&M and Oklahoma, but has just as much success as those schools. I’ve always felt like Oklahoma State will take three-stars that play like four- and five-stars and then beat you with those guys.

“They play with a chip on their shoulder. That’s who Nick Martin is, a player that will hurt you physically.”

Of course, Gundy doesn’t get overly concerned with height when he sees other traits that make a player a good fit at OSU. Martin was 6-0, 195 as a high school senior, but that didn’t detract from his physicality and speed in Gundy’s eyes.

The Cowboys took a chance on Malcolm Rodriguez when he was an undersized safety at Wagoner, then they turned him into a linebacker who is now playing in the NFL. Martin seems to have some of the same traits.

“Height doesn’t bother us,” Gundy said. “Malcolm was a really good player here, and he’s undersized in somebody’s opinion. That’s never concerned us as long as they can run and hit and they like to play, which those guys fall in that category.”

Martin’s speed gets him where he needs to be, and his toughness helps him finish his tackles.

He has missed 11 tackles this season, or less than 9% of his total potential tackles. Of the top 50 tacklers in college football, based on total tackles, only a dozen have a missed-tackle percentage of less than 9%, according to Pro Football Focus analytics.

“He’s violent and he plays with great speed,” Gundy said. “That’s why we liked him. He was undersized, which kept him from being really heavily recruited in my opinion. He’s grown into his own, but he keeps those characteristics.

“He loves to play football. He likes to practice. He cares about his team. He’s tough and he can run. Those are good things for defensive guys.”

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football's Nick Martin is emerging as a star linebacker