Could another favorite son be coming home on this latest spinning of the coaching carousel?
It’s long been thought that Tee Martin would be in play for the opening at Tennessee, especially when Phillip Fulmer, his former coach, (reportedly) pulled a Shakespearean power play to grab the athletic director job at UT. However, there’s been very little in the way of speculation connecting the USC offensive coordinator to the opening.
Until now.
Phillip Fulmer and Tee Martin spoke extensively by phone Tuesday morning, and sources close to Martin felt like it was a positive conversation moving in the right direction. Martin played under Fulmer and quarterbacked the Vols to the 1998 national championship.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) December 5, 2017
A #Vols update: #Tennessee AD Phil Fulmer and #USC OC Tee Martin have had a talk and the conversation was very positive, I'm told.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 5, 2017
Martin was a two-time SEC champion who, as the quarterback, helped lead the Volunteers to the 1998 national championship. After beginning his coaching career in the high school ranks for three years, he parlayed jobs at New Mexico (quarterbacks, 2009) and Kentucky (wide receivers, 2010-11) into a job at USC in 2012 as receivers coach. He was then promoted to passing-game coordinator in 2014 and offensive coordinator in 2016.
Others connected to the Vols job include Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker -- he’s reportedly interviewed twice, the second coming today -- and, per FootballScoop.com, Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and SMU head coach Chad Morris.