Tennessee Vols legend named as option to replace Liam Coen as Kentucky's offensive coordinator
For the third straight offseason, the Kentucky Wildcats are in need of a new offensive coordinator. That's because offensive coordinator Liam Coen is leaving Kentucky for the second time in two years. Coen, who is leaving Kentucky to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' new offensive coordinator, previously left the Wildcats for the NFL after the […]
For the third straight offseason, the Kentucky Wildcats are in need of a new offensive coordinator.
That's because offensive coordinator Liam Coen is leaving Kentucky for the second time in two years.
Coen, who is leaving Kentucky to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' new offensive coordinator, previously left the Wildcats for the NFL after the 2021 season before returning in 2023.
Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops now has to sift through candidates to find an offensive coordinator that matches his philosophy (which seems to be focused on controlling the clock and keeping the UK defense off the field).
Tennessee Vols legend Tee Martin, the last quarterback to lead UT to a national championship, was named recently by The Lexington Herald-Leader as an option to replace Coen.
Martin is currently the Baltimore Ravens' quarterbacks coach.
From The Lexington Herald-Leader: If Stoops wants to continue to prioritize NFL experience but is willing to step outside the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree, Martin would be a logical choice. The former Tennessee quarterback already has experience at Kentucky, serving as an assistant coach for Joker Phillips for two seasons and was once considered a rising star as a college coach before jumping to the NFL. Martin has previous college coordinator experience at Southern Cal. It is far from certain he would be interested in leaving the opportunity to coach Lamar Jackson for a college coordinator position, though.
Martin served as Kentucky's wide receivers coach in 2010 and 2011, so he has some experience in Lexington. But even if Martin badly wants to call plays, it's hard to see him leaving a job with the Ravens, where he gets to coach a MVP frontrunner in quarterback Lamar Jackson, for a job as the offensive coordinator at Kentucky.
At a time when we're seeing more and more coaches flee the college game for the NFL due to the absurd workload that the transfer portal has created, it's tough to find a reason why Martin would want to leave Baltimore.
The only way it makes sense is if Martin sees the offensive coordinator job at Kentucky as a springboard to an NFL coordinator job. Even then, it seems like a better path for Martin would be staying the course in the NFL and hoping that a coordinator job in the pro ranks comes his way based on the work he's done with Jackson.
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