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Tennessee football: 5 things Tee Martin brings to Vols as assistant coach

By Caleb Calhoun

2 Jan 2000: Tee Martin #17 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets ready to pass the ball as Carlos Polk #13 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers comes at him during the Fiesta Bowl Game at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Florida. The Cornhuskers defeated the Volunteer
2 Jan 2000: Tee Martin #17 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets ready to pass the ball as Carlos Polk #13 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers comes at him during the Fiesta Bowl Game at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Florida. The Cornhuskers defeated the Volunteer /
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Photo by Vincent Laforet /Allsport
Photo by Vincent Laforet /Allsport /

4. Championship history

Don’t let what happened to the USC Trojans this past year cloud your judgment in the success Tee Martin has had as a head coach. It’s a blip on the radar, just like his 2011 season with the Kentucky Wildcats under Joker Phillips and his 2009 season with the New Mexico Lobos under Mike Locksley.

Every other season as an FBS assistant coach or player, Martin’s teams have made the postseason. That includes the 2010 season with Kentucky. It also includes the first six years with USC under four different head coaches in Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron, Steve Sarkisian and Clay Helton. Winning with that type of turmoil makes his resume even more impressive.

And under Helton, he helped lead the Trojans to two straight New Years Six bowl games along with a Pac-12 Championship in 2017. Combine that with their top 5 finish in 2016, and you can’t ignore the success he’s had.

Then we get to him as a player, and that obviously speaks for itself. Martin went 22-3 as a starter for Tennessee football and led the Vols to a national championship in 1998. So he has experience in some major form delivering a Pac-12 Championship, an SEC Championship, a national championship, and a Rose Bowl victory.

When we talk about instant credibility, these things matter, and they resonate with recruits and players. So Martin brings that with his winning history, which Jeremy Pruitt also has, and it can help establish the right culture on Rocky Top.

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