Tee Martin Leaving Kentucky For USC
Matt Barkley may win the Heisman Trophy next year but during the offseason, he’s happy to work as a journalist breaking Trojans news.
Via the USC quarterback’s Twitter feed, Tee Martin is apparently leaving Kentucky to accept the vacant Trojans wide receivers coaching job.
Last January, Kentucky boosted Martin’s salary in hopes of fending off a bevy of suitors and promoted him to passing game coordinator.
His ability to make an NFL player out of quarterback-turned-wideout Randall Cobb and high marks as a recruiter made Martin a wanted commodity in the SEC.
His alma mater, Tennessee showed interest last year but the Volunteers elected to go in another direction.
Tennessee of course is where Lane Kiffin, current USC head coach, spent a single season in 2009 before returning to Los Angeles.
It riled up Volunteer fans, players and alums alike, including Tee Martin.
In a column for Sporting News in January 2010, Martin wrote the following about his new boss:
“Lane is a West Coast guy. I don’t think he was ever at Tennessee 100 percent. He used to coach at USC, he knows the players USC recruits and he is familiar with the high school coaches there in Los Angeles. So it doesn’t really surprise me that he would leave for USC. It’s the timing of it.”
Martin was right. Kiffin is a West Coast guy and he definitely left before finishing the rebuilding job in Knoxville but he also ended up with one of the top three gigs in college football.
Now, the former Tennessee quarterback is joining him in Los Angeles.
And he’ll be directing a unit of receivers with more talent than 99% of the rest of the sport.
I hope Matt Barkley was wearing a hat with “PRESS” written on it when he broke the Martin news.
