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Former Tennessee Vols QB Tee Martin emerging as a star coach at USC

By Caleb Calhoun

23 Oct 1999: Tee Martin #17 of the Tennessee Volunteers carries the ball during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Voulunteers defeated the Crimson Tide 21-7. Mandatory Credit: Elsa Hasch /Allsport
23 Oct 1999: Tee Martin #17 of the Tennessee Volunteers carries the ball during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Voulunteers defeated the Crimson Tide 21-7. Mandatory Credit: Elsa Hasch /Allsport /
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After winning a national championship with the Tennessee Volunteers in 1998, Tee Martin’s stardom is even growing now with the USC Trojans.

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For many Tennessee football fans, it’s painful to witness. While they wonder if they are going to keep their coach, their beloved former quarterback, Tee Martin, is a rising star on the national stage as an assistant coach…out on the West Coast.

Martin was listed as a rising assistant college football coach by two different services on Thursday. Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman ranked him at No. 11 in his list of rising assistant coaches, and Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel ranked him at No. 13 on his list of assistant coaches.

That’s after only one year as an offensive coordinator with the USC Trojans in which he helped turn Sam Darnold into a star quarterback.

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Go out to California, and it’s clear the USC community loves him. Now, he’s likely one great season away from a head coaching job.

And Vol Nation feels like he should be there with them.

In 2013, Martin turned down a chance to come home to his Alma Mater, where he won a national title. Fans still love him there, but he turned down that offer to coach for Lane Kiffin at USC.

Martin then rubbed Vols fans the wrong way after an audio of what sounded like his voice leaked calling Jalen Hurd ‘soft and terrible.’

In hindsight, nobody can blame him for those decisions.

By staying at USC through Kiffin Steve Sarkisian and now Clay Helton, Martin has been able to see a promotion to offensive coordinator.

And nobody in Knoxville disagrees with him about Jalen Hurd now.

So what hurts Vols fans most is that Derek Dooley didn’t hire him when he had the chance in 2012.

Still, as Martin continues to rise, a part of Knoxville wants him back. Even the USC community recognizes that.

An article Alicia de Artola of fellow FanSided site Reign of Troy, which covers USC football, noted Feldman’s and Thamel’s analysis of Martin but then added that Tennessee could be a major player to bring him home if Jones doesn’t work out.

After all, as it pointed out, Jones’s job security is a bit up in the air.

Getting back to Martin, though, everybody roots for his success in Knoxville. Vols fans do that with their former players and coaches. David Cutcliffe is still even a star as he coaches at Duke. But seeing Martin at USC specifically does sting a little bit.

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Either way, he’s a rising star right now as a coach. He showed as a player that he’s willing to wait his turn to seize the day. Now, after paying his dues, he’s close to getting his chance as a head coach as well.

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