Michigan Football: Prairie Coach Praises Oliver Martin's Versatility

The two times during the 2016 season that Iowa City West met Prairie (Iowa) High, Oliver Martin was a thorn in the sides of the Prairie staff. Now that Martin has moved on to Michigan, however, some of those same coaches will be pulling for him.

"I've got two coaches on my staff that wore Michigan gear every day to practice," Prairie coach Mark Bliss said. "They are huge Michigan fans … we're excited for (Martin)."

Bliss and his staff have first-hand knowledge of what Michigan is getting from the wide receiver. Martin's sheer athleticism was something Prairie had to be aware of every time Martin was on the field, and he wasn't limited to offense for West.

"He is an incredible talent. There is no question that he’s the type of athlete that you’ve got to know where he’s at on the field at all times," Bliss said. "We were fortunate enough, early in the season, to beat them. I think it was week five we played them and we beat them and they went on to win the district championship. In that game alone we were able to come up with some ideas to shut him down. They played him a lot at the outside receiver spot and we were creative enough in our scheme to try to keep an eye on him and bracket him a little bit."

Limiting Martin in that game helped Prairie to a 39-20 away victory. The two teams would meet again in the Iowa State Playoffs, but Prairie wasn't so lucky the second time around, losing to West, 38-21.

"When we got a chance to play him in the quarterfinals what they did, they utilized him in a lot of different ways than the first time we met them," Bliss said. "He got some good match-ups with some inside linebackers and some safeties, and his sheer athleticism basically took over and he had a phenomenal game against us in the quarterfinals. There is no question Michigan is going to benefit from having him on their roster."

Bliss said that even when the Prairie defense was able to keep the ball out of Martin's hands, his speed vertically stretched the defense and allowed his teammates room to attack Prairie in other ways.

Martin is one of five highly ranked wide receivers Michigan has in its 2017 class, which is regarded as one of the best positional recruit groups in the country.

"He’s an athlete. He can run sideline to sideline and he’s a football player," Bliss said. "With that being said, I think he’ll fit in well with the Jim Harbaugh team because he’s a hardnosed kid that has incredible work ethic. We’re glad to see him go. We’re glad that he was a senior and moving on and I wish him the best as a Wolverine."