Tee Martin was officially announced as the new wide receiver coach at Kentucky today. Martin will be available to the local media before tonight's basketball game. Check back for quotes and comments. Martin was recently on a talk show and had good things to say about both Joker and Randy Sanders. It also sounds like Martin will recruit Georgia for UK. Again, I feel the addition of Tee Martin to UK's staff is huge (bigger than most realize).**update** click here to read Larry Vaughts article on Tee Martin.
Aaron, this hire reinforces a theme that Joker posited as soon as he was promoted to HC. He will maintain a coaching staff that can recruit the southeast vigorously, as well as teach the game of football.
ReplyDeleteMartin has as recruiting network in Georgia. David Turner also has a recruiting network in Georgia and Florida. Georgia has become a critical state in UK's football recruiting program because the Commponewealth simply does not produce enough D-1 prospects to support a successful contending SEC program. This is the strategic obstacle that Joker must manage and overcome.
The staff's rhetoric about controlling recruiting inside the Commonwealth will contiinue, because that's the only prudent way for Joker to run the program from a PR point of view. But Joker signed seven prospects from Georgia (eight if you count Bailey) last week, as opposed to three from the Commonwealth. In 2009, Coach Brooks signed six Kentuckians and six from Georgia. This is how it will continue to be, and I think we can also expect more Floridians to become Cats over the next several years.
The fact is that Georgia produces about 200 D-1 football prospects every year, and Florida produces close to 400. In a good year, the Commonwealth produces 10-15.
Tee Martin is not a WR coach by experience. I'm sure tee can provide a lot of guidance to UK's WRs although Joker and Sanders will undoubtedly remain active with that group as well. I expect Tee to be on the road a lot. If Sanders ever takes his own HC job somewhere else, assume Tee will go with him.
Your right, UK must recruit outside the state and take the right kids in-state. I have analyzed UK's recruiting for the past 8 years and the amount of in-state recruits have decreased. Which is a big reason the Cats are having some success.
ReplyDeleteTee brings a new young, cool, hip, I-phone using type of recruiter to the table for the Cats. He will make a statement. It helps that he has played in the NFL and won a title too!
Another thing is this, Tee will be highly motivated to make his mark as this is a big step in his career. He has moved to the SEC now and will not want to squander this opportunity.
ReplyDelete