If Tee Martin were being hired as an offensive coordinator, I’d have him lower on this list. But given the titles he has, his history before joining Tennessee football shows he’s more than qualified and definitely Jeremy Pruitt’s best offseason hire.
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The UT legend who won the school’s last championship, conference or national, as a quarterback should work brilliantly in basically running the passing game. You can question what he did as an offensive coordinator.
But while coaching receivers with the USC Trojans and Kentucky Wildcats, Martin made a career out of turning out NFL Draft picks. The first was Randall Cobb, whom he helped mold to become a receiver at the next level after playing quarterback in college. Then, with USC, he developed future NFL Draft picks Robert Woods, Marqise Lee, Nelson Agholor, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
As a passing game coordinator for USC or an offensive coordinator, Martin also helped develop NFL Draft picks Randall Telfer at tight end and then Cody Kessler and Sam Darnold at quarterback. So although he brings questions as a play-caller, he is a known success in developing receivers and coordinating the passing game. That’s what he’s doing on Rocky Top.
Then there’s Martin’s recruiting abilities. A two-time national recruiter of the year, nobody is going to debate that Martin should be able to lure talent to Rocky Top. On top of that, his biggest strength is in Georgia, where Jeremy Pruitt wants to be able to make the biggest impact.
Simply put, Martin coming on to coach what he’s specifically coaching makes him the second best staff member for Tennessee football. In fact, he almost has a case to be No. 1 on this list. He is just that proven in the roles that he’s been assigned. Add in the fact that he has credibility as a champion for Rocky Top, and this hire is great all the way around.