Kentucky Wildcat Football: Tee Martin staying is a good thing

Kentucky football has long been thought of as one of the lower tier programs in the SEC, even though in recent years the team has come a long way. It’s obvious that Rich Brooks brought about a culture change at Kentucky and now that Joker Phillips has taken over as head coach, many talented coaches have joined the Wildcat staff.

There is a lot of room for improvement and if given time, the growth in the program will begin to progress beyond the current level of six and seven win seasons. One way to see that growth is to have an explosion of talent come into the program. In order for that to happen, coaches like Tee Martin, Kentucky’s wide receivers coach and now passing game coordinator, must be retained.

There was a massive scare among Wildcat football followers when rumors surfaced that Nick Saban was shopping around for a receivers coach at storied Alabama. Tee Martin, being an Alabama native, appeared to be on the short-list of candidates.

It was put up on shut up time for the University of Kentucky’s athletics department.

Martin is one of the least experienced coaches on the Kentucky staff, but he’s been dynamite on the recruiting trail and Kentucky’s receivers played well this year as well. It’s clear that Martin will remain a hot commodity not only in the SEC, but possibly nationally.

Kentucky had to show a commitment to the football program and re-up Martin’s contract, even though he saw his contract upgraded just several weeks ago. Joker Phillips and AD Mitch Barnhart stepped in and made the necessary move to keep the up-and-coming coach on staff.

Martin was given a four-year contract reportedly worth $400,000. The additional responsibility as Passing Game Coordinator was also a factor in keeping Martin on board and way from his home-state Crimson Tide. And in the end, Martin felt it was best to stay a part of the Kentucky program.

“To me it was a no-brainer. Every day I come to work, I’m excited about coming to work,” said Martin at yesterday’s presser. “Coach Phillips is a tremendous coach to work for. He’s great with our players and as a staff,” he continued.

The Wildcat program will be better because Martin has decided to stay and Martin believes that he along with the rest of the staff are ready to continue the work of improving the Wildcat program.

“Kentucky football is headed in the right direction. We’re headed up and this is just one piece of the puzzle,” Martin said. “We have to have great players, we have to coach them up and all that stuff, but it shows the commitment we have in taking this program to where we want it to be and that is to the championship level.”

Brian Eldridge is a guest contributor to the Wildcat Blue Nation and he can be frequeently found on Kentucky Sports Report.    KSR will be holding a live football signing say chat on Kentucky Sports Report on Wednesday, starting at 9AM. 

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans