The CheckerBoard

Here is what a Kentucky writer posted when Tennessee fans really wanted Tee earlier in the offseason:

JamesPennington said...

Howdy, folks. My name's James, and I'm one of a handful of staffers for 247's UK affiliate, The Cats' Pause. I saw this thread and wanted to offer a bit of insight on Tee Martin's perception up here as to his coaching and recruiting ability.

-Martin is looked upon up here as UK's ace recruiter, and he's somebody Joker Phillips would really hate to see leave. A lot of the top recruits from last year's class (the first that Martin fully recruited) came from Martin's recruiting areas, including a snag on Signing Day that brought Daryl Collins' commitment from Alabama to Kentucky (Collins would have played considerably as a freshman, Martin said, if he hadn't separated his kneecap in camp and redshirted).

When rumblings were around last December/January about Nick Saban calling Martin about becoming the Tide's WR coach, Joker Phillips gave Martin a pretty nice extension right there on the spot. As it stands, Martin is the only coach on Phillips' staff under contract through 2014. It's important to note there is no buyout clause in his contract if Martin were to resign. I would expect he'd also want a raise over his current salary, which is $215k/year.

-As a position coach, opinions are a bit mixed. Some UK fans may tell you they aren't happy with how his receivers performed, but I'm not convinced that's his problem. He inherited a pretty rotten group of players, and the only two that were legitimate SEC talents in his first season (Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews) both vanished prior to this season.

Devoid of almost any talent among the receivers, I've used another barometer to gauge him as a position coach: Any time I've ever interviewed him after practices (which is often because he's a great quote), he always sticks around afterward talking to players to help them work things out on their own. And a lot of times, they aren't wide receivers. A lot of players that he doesn't oversee come to him for advice and motivation, even defensive players. He really connects with the guys (which is probably a lot of why he's such a good recruiter). All that said, his receivers showed some progress toward the end of the season. Matt Roark, an infamous name in Knoxville by now I would guess, was benched in the second game of the season for a series of really bad drops in or near the end zone against Central Michigan. Prior to the UT game, Roark had a pair of 100-yard receiving games on his record, which none of us could believe in Lexington.

Of course, Kentucky's quarterback situation didn't help anything with the receivers. But I think Martin is a fine position coach and a terrific person to have on a staff for a lot of different reasons.

-On a personal level, I would guess that Martin wouldn't hesitate one bit to take the job. You can tell he and his family love Lexington, and he'd be the first to say that. But Tennessee is still incredibly special to him, and I don't think it would take much to get him packing up.

Hope this sheds some light for you all on Martin. He's very well respected up here, and I would guess that Phillips would lose a lot of sleep if Martin took another job, wherever it is.

Maybe Tee will one day replace Kiffy as head coach at USCw and restore class and integrity to that program.

I think Tee Martin is a guy that you make room for. He's a good/great recruiter who was a national championship winning QB at UT. Guys like that don't grow on trees and when you have a chance to bring him home, you jump on it. Shuffle a few guys around and make room for Tee. He recruited well to KY so there is no doubt in my mind that he could recruit at the highest level for UT. I realize we made some good hires but there is only one Tee Martin and hopefully we bring him home soon.

I love everyones positive take on this. This is a great move for Tee he has out grown KY. Maybe he will learn some things out west and come back to UT.

Congrats to Tee Martin good career move for him to get away from kentucky .

i honestly think kiffin is doing things like this to tennesse on purpose,but every dog has his day

I support this message.

He was the QB of a NC team. He's a great recruiter from that standpoint alone.