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Tennessee Football Rumors: Could Tee Martin be Returning to Vols as an Assistant?

By Caleb Calhoun

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Could former Tennessee football quarterback Tee Martin be leaving the USC Trojans and returning to the Volunteers as an assistant coach?

Before we proceed any further, we want to say that this is pure, 100 percent speculation. We have not one shred of hard evidence on this and nothing from Tee Martin himself.

But there are slight indicators pointing to the possibility that the national championship winning quarterback for the Vols in 1998, who turned down a chance to return to Tennessee as an assistant on Butch Jones’s staff his first year in Knoxville, could possibly be mounting a return.

It all started with the hiring of Clay Helton as USC head coach. Sure, Martin was one of the staff members he retained, but he largely cleaned house. Whenever there is turnover like that, you don’t know what the staff is going to do.

At the same time, the departure of Tennessee assistant coach Mark Elder to become the head coach at Eastern Kentucky means there is a clear staff opening on the Vols. Perhaps Jones was not serious about Martin on staff three years ago and only talked to him out of fan pressure but now is much more willing to bring him on.

But after all of that, there was one piece of news Wednesday night that may have really fueled the rumor.

Martin’s son, 2017 Class four-star wide receiver Amari Rodgers of Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tenn., has been committed to USC since the summer. But he announced his decommitment from the program on Twitter at 10:52 p.m. Wednesday.

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Now, in the midst of all of this, he clearly noted that USC is still one of his top choices. But also on that list is Clemson, and yes, Tennessee. Does that mean Martin is looking at other places as an assistant coach.

Or does it just mean Rodgers wants to make his own decision and maybe not follow his father? There is also the possibility that, while Martin will still be remaining at USC, Rodgers simply backed out due to the coaching change and wants to see how things play out.

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All of this means that it is extreme speculation to even suggest that Martin might be returning to Tennessee. But a staff vacancy on the Vols coming the same week that his son decommits from the program where he is currently an assistant coach could be more than coincidence.

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