On April 15, MIT athletic director Julie Soriero announced the hiring of Chad Martinovich to serve as the second head coach in the history of the program. Martinovich makes the trip to Cambridge, Mass., from RPI, where he was the defensive coordinator the past four years.

Martinovich takes over the reins from long-time head coach Dwight Smith, who announced his retirement last Nov. 12 following a 5-5 season in which he earned NEFC Coach of the Year honors for the second time. Smith had been with the program since its return to the club ranks in 1978, and guided the Engineers into their first varsity game in 1988.

Although change at the top has been infrequent for the grid program,
Martinovich is poised to make an immediate impact with the Cardinal and
Gray. At RPI, Martinovich's defense ranked first in the Liberty League three consecutive years, while the team qualified for the NCAA playoffs in 2007.

"Chad will bring a dynamic personality and a strong work ethic to our
program. His enthusiasm and passion for building our program will be
evident from the first day and I believe the student-athletes who play for him at MIT will be motivated to succeed and build on our history."

In 2004, Martinovich joined the RPI staff as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Although Martinovich started his career on the defensive side of the ball, he served as the receivers coach at Albany in 1997, before accepting offensive coordinator positions at Swarthmore (1998-00) and Hamilton (2001-03). Martinovich has coached several All-Americans, numerous All-Conference performers, and had a player earn a spot at an NFL training camp.

"I'm excited and really looking forward to being part of the MIT family," said Martinovich. "It's a tremendous honor to follow in Coach Smith's footsteps, and I am eager to bring the alums into the fold as soon as possible. Collectively, we aim to build on the program's solid foundation, and take MIT football to new heights by delivering a great product on and off the field."