Where does Tee Martin stand in his coaching career? What direction is it taking?

Is he ready for the spotlight and a fish bowl type job within the SEC?

At age 39, the second-year USC offensive coordinator already has eight years of experience coaching on a Power 5 staff.

Tee Martin as a coach:

Morehouse (Passing game coordinator) (2006)
North Cobb HS (PGC/quarterbacks) (2007)
North Atlanta HS (offensive coordinator/QB) (2008)
New Mexico (QB) (2009)
Kentucky (Wide receivers) (2010)
Kentucky (PGC/WR) (2011)
USC (WR) (2012–2013)
USC (PGC/WR) (2014–2015)
USC (OC/WR) (2016–present)

Martin played at Tennessee when the Vols were competing at a high level. He won two SEC championships and the 1998 national championship.

In 2016, his first year as USC’s offensive coordinator, the Trojans finished 10-3 and won the Rose Bowl. This season USC is 10-2 and will play Stanford in Friday’s Pac-12 championship game. The Trojans have the 13th best total offense in the nation this season, averaging 292 yards per game through the air and 197 on the ground.

With his success coordinating the offense, other schools are looking at Martin as a head coaching option.

Some fans of Martin’s alma mater are mentioning him as a candidate for the Vols job after fan outrage helped strike down a deal between UT athletics director John Currie and would-be coach Greg Schiano. The school backed out of the deal after questions re-emerged surrounding whether Schiano, then a Penn State assistant, knew anything about Jerry Sandusky’s child abuse scandal.

Tee Martin's USC offense was No. 20 nationally last season and is No. 13 in 2017.

John Jackson of the USC Trojans Radio Network told Saturday Down South that, after Currie’s pursuit in trying to hire Schiano, Martin has “fire kindling to be a head coach” and “may be the best hire for Tennessee” right now.

Jackson does not see age as an issue for Martin, saying that “younger guys are starting to get opportunities early on instead of older recycled coaches such as Schiano.”

Jackson views Martin as “a natural choice and a made for Tennessee pick.”

Martin has been a staple for the Trojans’ recruiting success since he joined the staff in 2012 as wide receivers coach under then head coach Lane Kiffin.

Jackson says that “Tee stood out to Kiffin when Lane hired him in 2012 with his strength being a recruiter.”

Jackson added: “He has grown as a coach and is replacing a reputation … of only being a recruiter as he continues to be a great play-caller.”

Martin was on staff under Kiffin (2012-13) then Steve Sarkisian (2014-15), so he witnessed Kiffin handling head coaching duties and play calling simultaneously, and Sarkisian doing the same thing in 2014. Sarkisian handed off play-calling duties to then offensive coordinator Clay Helton in 2015.

Jackson says it has “helped Martin see how Kiffin did not separate the roles and also seeing how Sarkisian and Clay (Helton) separated the roles.”

“I would tend to think if he (Martin) had someone that he trusts then he would separate play-calling from being a head coach,” Jackson said of Martin. “If he cannot find someone he trusts, then it’s a whole different story. It was an easy decision for Clay to hand the play-calling to Tee since he has been in the system and sat in the meeting rooms with him.

“It would be an interesting decision to see what Tee would do as far as play-calling in his first head coaching job. I would think that he would take the same approach that Clay did and see the importance of having the roles separated with having so much to deal with as a head coach, he would bring on a play-caller with him and someone he trusts. Tee has worked himself up from a wide receivers coach and understands the value of assigning responsibilities.”

Martin has been an assistant coach in college for the past eight years after his brief NFL playing career,

If Martin were to receive an offer from his alma mater to coach the Volunteers, would he handle the pressure-packed SEC and continue to recruit at a high level?

Jackson thinks so.

He said he understands Martin’s temperament by being around him and views it as “one that does not crack under pressure and is not a high strung and high emotional guy.”

Recruiting would take care of itself since Martin played at Tennessee and would sell his own experiences.

“When he goes into recruits living rooms and telling them how it is going to be like, he is speaking from experience,” Jackson said. “It would be hard-pressed to find a better hire.

“He can be a game-changer in recruiting that instantly gives you good players and good players usually beat bad players no matter what you are doing.”