Willie Martinez is an American football coach who is currently the Cornerbacks coach for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. A graduate of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

, Martinez was formerly

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

and

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

coach of the

Georgia Bulldogs football team The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Football Program represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in the NCAA Division 1 Collegiate Competitors in the sport of American football. The Yellow Jackets college football team competes in the Football ...

, initially working as the secondary coach from 2001 to 2005 before being promoted to defensive coordinator. He was fired following the 2009 season. Martinez served as the defensive backs coach for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

football team from 2010 to January 2012, when he resigned.rivals.com coaching database: Willie Martinez
/ref> On February 13, 2012, Martinez was hired to coach defensive backs for Auburn University. The move reunited him with Auburn's Defensive Coordinator Brian VanGorder. The two had coached together for several years at Central Florida, Central Michigan, and the University of Georgia. In December 2012, Martinez joined

Butch Jones Lyle Allen "Butch" Jones Jr. (born January 17, 1968) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Arkansas State University. Jones previously served as a special assistant to the head coach and offensive analyst at the Univ ...

's staff at Tennessee until January 2017, then in 2020 when Tennessee fired their Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee hired Josh Heupel and Heupel then hired Martinez to his staff.

References

External links

UCF profile
1963 births Living people American football defensive backs Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football coaches Central Michigan Chippewas football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Miami Hurricanes football players Oklahoma Sooners football coaches UCF Knights football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches High school football coaches in Florida Players of American football from Miami Sports coaches from Miami Coaches of American football from Florida {{1990s-collegefootball-coach-stub