After a disappointing 2025 season, Tennessee football and Josh Heupel are shaking things up in a big way on the defensive side of the ball. After moving on from defensive coordinator Tim Banks and hiring Jim Knowles as his replacement, a report on Thursday night indicates that the Vols will also move on from secondary coach Willie Martinez.
A report followed just moments later, also from CBS’s Matt Zenitz, of the expected hire to coach cornerbacks in his place. That will be Michael Hunter, an assistant defensive backs coach at Ohio State, who spent one season working with Knowles with the Buckeyes in 2024. The pair won a national title that season.
Hunter was in this role at OSU for the past two seasons. Before that, he was the cornerbacks coach at Tulsa in 2023. From 2021-22, he served as an assistant defensive secondary coach at his alma mater, Oklahoma State.
Hunter began his playing career at Indiana, where he was at from 2011-14. He rounded out his career with the Cowboys in 2015 before going undrafted. He still carved out an NFL career that lasted until 2019.
Tennessee is expected to hire Ohio State’s Michael Hunter as cornerbacks coach, sources tell @CBSSports.
The ex-NFL DB was assistant defensive backs coach at Ohio State the last two years. Previously worked with new Vols DC at Jim Knowles at both Ohio State and Oklahoma State. pic.twitter.com/LdFx7m37bb
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 2, 2026
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Reportedly Parting Ways With Veteran Secondary Coach
Martinez had spent the previous five years on staff at Tennessee. He was also Tennessee’s secondary coach from 2013-16 under former head coach Butch Jones.
This is the first departure from the defensive staff under Knowles since the firing of Banks. However, it has been reported that defensive line coach Rodney Garner is likely to stay in Knoxville.
Other position coaches that may be on the move under Knowles include outside linebackers coach Levorn ‘Chop’ Harbin and linebackers coach William Inge. No reports have indicated confirmed movement for either, though.
