Was Cuonzo Martin Set up to Fail by Vols as Head Coach of Tennessee Basketball?

Mar 28, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Cuonzo Martin talks with his players in the first half in the semifinals of the midwest regional of the 2014 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship tournament against the Michigan Wolverines at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

An ESPN story hints Tennessee basketball fans were unfair to Cuonzo Martin when he coached the Volunteers, even bringing up racism. But how true is that?

We had thought we had moved on. Tennessee Vols fans finally jumped on Cuonzo Martin’s bandwagon, then he jumped ship, and then Dave Hart got hit with a curveball by hiring a coach who could not stay out of trouble.

But now, with Rick Barnes entering his first year at Tennessee and Cuonzo Martin enjoying early success at Cal, an ESPN feature story on him has rehashed everything he went through as head coach of the Vols.

The petition to get him fired, fans jumping off his bandwagon before it even got started, and even the issue of race was brought up.

With a blatant lack of support from the administration to the message boards all calling for his head to Clay Travis even going out of his way to call for his firing, Martin had a barrage of attacks coming on him at Tennessee.

And given where he has Cal right now, Vols fans surely have an egg on their face in the public perception.

But how fair is that egg? The article implies fans were out to get Martin from the start, and without directly saying so, it eludes to racism.

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And it’s not like that issue was not brought up during the article. So rather than run from the issue, let’s bring it up. We will attack the Cuonzo Martin era at Tennessee head-on, in response to ESPN’s article on what happened.

This is not a chronological account of his career. This is comparing perception to reality.

Let’s start with the perception.

Next: Cuonzo Martin and Tennessee on the Surface