It’s easy to understand now why Tennessee basketball fans were clamoring for Cuonzo Martin to be fired in 2014 and have Bruce Pearl brought back. That was a unique situation that nobody outside of Vol Nation understands.
However, without the benefit of hindsight, Martin did a solid job. He inherited a mess because of the NCAA infractions that got Pearl fired. The Vols, after a slow start in 2011-2012, rebounded to finish second in the SEC and just miss the NCAA Tournament.
They figured to take the next step in 2012-2013, but one of Martin’s key players, Jeronne Maymon, suffered a season-ending injury. That set them back again and resulted in another late-season turnaround with them just missing the NCAA Tournament.
In 2013-2014, Maymon had to get back into basketball shape, and as he did, Robert Hubbs III, a five-star Martin wanted to build his backcourt around, suffered a season-ending injury. Simply put, Martin couldn’t catch a break, but his team still rebounded that year, amidst the petition to fire him and bring back Pearl, to make the Sweet Sixteen.
Martin went 19-15, 20-13 and 24-13 in three years on Rocky Top. He was a bad call from an Elite Eight appearance in 2014. Now, he’s not a better coach than Pearl, and he left UT in horrible shape. Pearl also did more for UT overall. But comparing what they did this decade alone, Martin did a better job when you look at everything he dealt with. So we have to give him the nod.