DALLAS – When it was reported on Nov. 26 that Greg Schiano was set to become the next head coach at Tennessee, many Volunteers fans and others with ties to the university community reacted to the potential hire with strong disapproval, ultimately leading Tennessee to back out of its deal with Ohio State’s defensive coordinator.
Former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin, however, was not among those who disapproved.
Martin, who led Tennessee to the 1998 national championship and is currently in his second season as USC’s offensive coordinator, had hopes of getting the Volunteers’ head coaching job for himself. But even though Martin was a speculative candidate for the job at the time, he thought his alma mater had made a good choice in deciding to hire Schiano.
"I have a lot of respect for Greg and what he’s done over his career as a football coach and when that name came up, I thought 'Wow, he’s a really good football coach,' and I thought it would have been a good fit," Martin said Wednesday during a USC media availability at the Cotton Bowl. "Obviously it didn’t happen and it kind of took its own path of however that happened, so it is what it is. I can’t really speak too much as to what went into that. But when the name initially got announced, I was like, 'Oh, that’s a heck of a coach.'"
After it became known on Nov. 26 that the Volunteers planned to hire Schiano, university students and other members of the community – even including members of the Tennessee House of Representatives – raised concerns about the hire because of a 2015 deposition by former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary that alleged Schiano witnessed a sexual assault by Jerry Sandusky during his time at Penn State, which Schiano denied after court records were unsealed in July 2016.
Martin said he couldn’t speak on what might or might not have happened at Penn State, but he said it was hard as a Tennessee alumnus to see the way the situation unfolded.
"It was a sticky situation," Martin said. "All I know is I’ve been watching Coach Schiano for years and the job that he’s done in the coaching profession and got a lot of respect for that."
“When that name came up, I thought ‘Wow, he’s a really good football coach,’ and I thought it would have been a good fit.”– Tee Martin on Greg Schiano
Schiano said Wednesday during his Cotton Bowl media availability that he did not think the time was right yet for him to talk about what happened with Tennessee, but said he does plan to address the situation publicly in the future.
"You know what, this game is so big for our program, for our kids and our coaching staff, our university, that I still think it’s inappropriate now," Schiano said. "There will be a time, though, I really think there will be a time that it would appropriate for me to speak about all that, and when I do, that will be good.
"When the time’s right, we’ll talk about it. But let’s focus on this game, because that’s really why we’re all here."
As for Martin himself, he said he never had an opportunity to interview for the Tennessee job. The Volunteers ended up hiring Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt on Dec. 7. But while he would have been interested in the opportunity to return to his alma mater as head coach, his focus now is on preparing the Trojans for Friday’s game against Ohio State at AT&T Stadium.
"I feel like I have the best job in America other than being the head coach at USC, being the offensive coordinator at USC, so I’m not in a rush to leave this place," Martin said.
USC did lose one coach to the Volunteers, quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Tyson Helton, who left the Trojans earlier this month to become Pruitt’s offensive coordinator at Tennessee.
