All of this came after getting bypass surgery on his left leg, resulting in a staph infection. Martinez had to receive heavy antibiotics and his body “freaked” out.

He started hallucinating and went into a coma, and doctors told his family and friends that he probably wasn’t going to make it, Martinez said. But he’s here, and with a second chance at life, Martinez, 63, is feeling good, considering the circumstances.

“When you wake from a coma every day is a good day,” Martinez said via phone from his Menlo Park home. “I’m active again and I’m feeling better, but I have a long way to go. But I’ll tell you what — I’m glad to be here.”

So are many other people. Friends of Martinez are putting together a recognition dinner at 5 p.m. Saturday at the San Mateo Elks Lodge. Cost is $40 per person. The event is being used to help raise money for a CSM athletic scholarship to be named in Martinez’s honor. To say Martinez is a legend around these parts would be an understatement.

Most famously known as Tom Brady’s longtime mentor, Martinez, who coached football, women’s basketball and softball, accumulated over 1,100 wins, making him the winningest coach in California Community College history. During a five-year run in the mid-1980s, Martinez coached all three sports at the same time, a feat that will probably never be repeated again. All told, he spent nearly 30 years coaching softball and 25 years coaching women’s basketball before retiring after coaching the 2005 softball season.

His teams made the state playoffs virtually every year. But in terms of records and statistics, Martinez is most proud of this fact: His teams never had a losing record. Not one. Looking back at it now, Martinez wonders how he pulled it off. To coach three sports is one thing, to coach them at the same time is another. And it’s not like any of the sports were related. Martinez had to be knowledgeable in all areas, and in that regard, no one was better.

“Obviously, it was overload,” he said. “I look back on it now and ask, ‘How did I do that?’ Not only did I do it pretty well, I did it for a long time.”

For years Martinez went straight from the football field to the basketball court to the softball diamond. Although the sports were entirely different, one thing remained constant: Martinez’s ability to motivate athletes. He was a master motivator, elevating his athletes to perform at a level they never thought they could reach. Martinez was equally proficient with tactics and game-planning.

He’s quick to point out that while he coached in over 2,000 games, he scouted over 6,000 contests. A tireless worker, Martinez scouted his opponents with so much detail that after a couple of hours he probably knew his foes more than they knew themselves. His in-game adjustments and attention to detail were superb. CSM’s offense under Martinez was revolutionary. It’s safe to say Martinez was the Bill Walsh of the junior college game — the Bulldogs’ offense and schemes were way ahead of their time.

CSM featured an aggressive passing attack long before it ever became popular. In one game the Bulldogs racked up 808 yards of total offense, a national record at the time. Born and raised in San Francisco, Martinez attended now defunct Polytechnic High in San Francisco, playing basketball, baseball and football. He developed a love for coaching after watching former Polytechnic-San Francisco High coach Don Benedetti have success with the school’s baseball and basketball teams.

“I saw the coach-player relationship up close and he really motivated me to coach,” Martinez said. “At that point I knew what I wanted to do, and from there it was full speed ahead.”

Martinez’s first coaching jobs included the freshman football coaching position at Riordan and the freshman baseball coach at San Francisco State. Years later he went to CSM and has worked with a half-dozen NFL quarterbacks, including the Raiders’ JaMarcus Russell. Martinez has made an impact with hundreds of athletes over the years. But one sticks out. Four to five years ago, Martinez received an e-mail from a former player on his women’s basketball squad.

The player, whom Martinez didn’t want to identify, said she was raising her two kids the same way in how he coached her. Of note was the fact that the player nearly quit the team because of a lack of discipline. Longtime CSM football coach Larry Owens looks at Martinez as his mentor, friend and big brother. Martinez hired Owens to be his defensive line coach in the early ’80s.

“I learned a lot from coach Martinez in terms of developing and interacting with kids,” Owens said. “He’s left a great legacy. I’ve got Division I coaches telling me he’s one of the top offensive minds they’ve ever seen. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be where I’m at now. Whatever success I’ve had is directly related to him. At a young age you need someone to believe in you, and I feel he’s changed my life.”

A lot of people feel the same way.

Contact Emanuel Lee at emanuel@smdailyjournal.com, or (650) 344 5200, ext. 109.