Willie Martinez touts newcomers in Vols' secondary
Willie Martinez is facing the best kind of problem this spring.
The Tennessee defensive backs coach has spent much of his entire second stint in Knoxville trying to build depth in the secondary, which the Vols have lacked over the last two seasons.
At times, it has shown. Tennessee was among the worst teams in pass defense last season as the group suffered through injuries and a lack of consistency, though it did shine at times.
Through two-plus weeks of spring practices and some veterans working towards full health, Martinez has a little more to work with thanks to the addition of a crop of early enrollees in Jordan Matthews, Christian Conyer, Rickey Gibson, Jack Lutrell and John Slaughter.
"It's really not just been the last–obviously being this is our ninth practice here–but they've been here since December," Martinez said. "I've seen tremendous growth from the time they got here because we actually gave them the playbook at that time and we actually gave them some reps during those practices to the time now where, obviously since they got back to school in the latter half of January...They've come a long way. They really have. They've matured. They've become very confident.
"Obviously managing their time with school, the schedule–that's the hardest thing to understand when you're a young player. But they've grown a lot since December."
Tennessee returns a number of seniors, including Doneiko Slaughter, Kamal Hadden, Warren Burrell and Brandon Turnage, though Burrell is working his back from a season-ending injury last fall and has not participated in spring camp.
But Martinez sees the competition that the younger players– along with BYU transfer Gabe Jeudy-Lally–have brought to the spring as a positive for a defense that has struggled with consistency.
"Obviously, the last year, we've had a tremendous amount of injuries and having those five (freshmen) come in," Martinez said. "...We've been able to compete. I mean, we actually have had a competition open. Like I just said to you, man, we don't have a first group. We don't have a second group and that includes everybody...They're all competing and we've been kind of moving everybody around to give them an opportunity because we want competition. We've got to be better and we've said that from the get-go here.
"It's been really good. It really has because we've been able to evaluate a lot more reps of everybody and we told them we're gong to give them a shot."
Injuries forced the coaching staff to move players around last season.
Christian Charles moved from safety to corner and is back at safety this spring. Doneiko Slaughter had to make similar transition in the week leading up to the Kentucky game, moving to corner where he is taking reps this spring.
"We love versatility in our defensive back," Martinez said. "That's what we want. When we went down with some injuries in midweek of the Kentucky game, (Slaughter) didn't bat an eye. Hadn't played corner at all other than a couple of snaps in the spring and obviously we all saw how he played and how he played moving forward. He's a playmaker. He's somebody that's proven it. And again, he's had a good spring.
"He's locked in on playing corner right now. He's a really good player. He's a playmaker. You see it. He's just got to be more consistent."
Though the freshmen will develop their own versatility, Martinez has them sticking with their positions to gain familiarity in a new system.
It also offers them the opportunity for playing time against defensive backs that have been in the program.
"We're not doing too much with the young players," Martinez said. "John Slaughter and Jack Lutrell have just been working the safety positions and the Star position. And then the three corners–Rickey, Cristian and Jordan–have just been playing the corners. We've done that on purpose, giving them an opportunity to compete.
"And, again, it's worked out really well for us and they've been able to compete with guys that have been there."
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