Tate Martell likely to stay with Miami football program, for now

Tate Martell is one of the most polarizing players on the Miami football team. Martell came to the Hurricanes from Ohio State via the transfer portal during the 2019 offseason.

There was a lot of hype surrounding Tate Martell when he signed with Ohio State in 2017. Martell was one of the nation’s most well-known recruits in the class of 2017. Martell transferred to the Miami football program after being beaten out as the Buckeyes starting quarterback in 2018 and the transfer of Justin Fields.

Fields joined Ohio State during the 2019 college football offseason. Martell was allegedly told by new Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day that Fields would be the starter in 2019. Ohio State did not oppose Martell transferring. That played a role in Martell getting immediate eligibility with the Miami football program for 2019.

Martell became one of the most well known and polarizing players in college football after he appeared on a TV show called QB1: Beyond the Lights that chronicled highly recruited QBs in the class of 2017. He transferred to the Miami football program. Georgia QB Jake Fromm was ironically one of the other QBs featured.

Fields transferred to Ohio State from Georgia after he was unable to beat out Fromm as the Bulldogs starting QB. Fromm nearly led Georgia to the National Championship as a true freshman in 2017. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama in overtime in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Fromm became the starter at Georgia after Jacob Eason who is now at Washington suffered as season-ending injury. Fromm became Georgia’s Lou Gehrig to Eason’s Wally Pipp or a more recent Kurt Warner to Trent Green. Martell transferred to the Miami football program with most outsiders expecting him to be the starting QB.

That did not happen when redshirt

Jarren Williams

beat out redshirt sophomores Martell and

N’Kosi Perry

as the starting QBs. As the season has developed it became clear when Perry went into the games against Bethune-Cookman and Virginia Tech that he was the second string QB. Martell moved to WR earlier in the season.

Martell is an exceptional athlete who seems ideally suited to be a slot receiver. Other QBs who moved to WR include former Pittsburgh Steelers receivers Hines Ward and Antwaan Randel-El, Super Bowl LII MVP Julian Edelman, and former Ohio State signal callers Terrelle Pryor and Braxton Miller.

Miami football head coach Manny Diaz spoke earlier this week about how Martell is progressing at WR and what his future is at Miami. Martell could decide to move on to another school after the 2019 season so he could play QB. He could also realize that his professional future is far more likely at WR.

"“Tate loves Miami…He loves it here. We love Tate. Tate is a hard-working guy, one of the hardest-working guys in our program. He is learning the nuance to playing wide receiver because there is a lot to that, but he is also a team guy that can jump right back in and take snaps at quarterback, which is what he has done a week ago.I just think Tate is enjoying being here, enjoying being in our program, and just be on a winning team to do whatever it takes to help us win.”"

Martell has yet to be involved in the Miami passing game as either a passer or receiver in 2019. He has carried the ball twice for two yards this season. Martell had one carry for a loss of a yard against Florida and one for a gain of three yards against Bethune-Cookman.

At Ohio State in 2018, Martell had 22 carries for 128 yards and two TDs. Martell completed 23 passes in 28 attempts with one TD during his only season playing for the Buckeyes. Martell redshirted during his true freshman season in 2017.

That was a season before players were allowed to compete in four games and maintain their redshirt. Martell had special packages that Ohio State used for him during the 2018 season. Diaz was defensive when asked about any packages Miami might have had for Williams when Perry played the entire game against Virginia.

"“There was a package we could have used for Jarren, there was a package we could have used for Tate, there was a package we could have used for (walk-on) Carson Proctor. It was all depending on with what the game was going on and what we felt like we wanted to do.”"

As the season progresses for Miami it would be a lost year for Martell is he is not used at all. The move to WR was the smart progression for Martell’s future. Martell has a lot to learn at the position.

Martell is a pure athlete like Randel-El and another former Steeler Kordell Stewart. When he is in the game Martell puts pressure on the opposing defense.