Tennessee defensive backs coach Willie Martinez met with the local media on Tuesday morning before the Vols head to Nashville to face rival Vanderbilt to close the regular season.
The Vols are a win away from earning their second 10-win regular season in three years and from making the 12-team College Football Playoff in the first season.
Ahead of the matchup, Martinez discussed the growth of Boo Carter, the challenges that Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia presents and much more. Here’s everything Martinez said.
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On Boo Carter’s development from August until now
“Obviously, he’s done a really good job. We’ve had him since before last August. He’s been here since last December and went through our bowl practices. And, obviously, we know who Boo was in high school and how talented he was and athletic and some of the versatility he has. You can see that now. He’s obviously grown in our package on defense. Knows are our defense a lot better now. You can see that with all the confidence going back to his pick that he had a couple weeks ago. And that was really just an investment of time and understanding and what’s about to happen here in this formation, this situation. And he’s come a long way. Obviously, he hasn’t arrived yet nor do we think anybody would, since he’s in his first year. But we don’t see him as a young player anymore. We say that, we told him that they had to grow up as soon as they stepped on this campus because they’re talented, and we needed their productivity. And he’s just got to continue to grow in a position and also grow as a student athlete both on and off the field which he has done.”
On if Boo Carter’s instincts carry over from high school or if they have to reset at the college level
“That’s a great question. I mean, you’d like to get the instincts right from the get go. Right? But that’s what we talk about versatility, football instincts. He always has had that. So, obviously, it’s a natural gift that you have. And there’s nothing we can’t coach certain things schematically and to look for but he has a natural gift. He does, he has a good feel for it. I think he’s played sports his entire life. You can see that. There’s we call transferable skills when you’re playing basketball or baseball or whatever sport that is. He’s very competitive. No. We’re not surprised in the things that he can do. The thing about the STAR position though is that he’s gotta set the defense. That’s where he’s really grown. He’s gotta set it up in the alignments, and he’s getting a lot more comfortable in doing that. And we’ve actually been diving into the package even further and more into it with him where we’ve been very careful in early on. And, that’s the great thing about it. We’ve all grown on defense so to speak, because there’s some other young guys too that are playing and new guys in their first year here with. So, yeah, he’s doing a great job. You can see it. He’s playing a lot more confident. You can see it. He’s actually seeing the formation right now and dive into the situation, D and D, and he’s on it. He knows what kind of play is coming.”
On Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson wanting to be the best corner duo in college football
“That’s good if they feel that way. I just kinda concentrate on trying to keep them level headed. You know what I mean? Just work because there’s always gonna be that outside, so to speak noise, or whatever is being said outside the building. And we pride ourselves about, listen, man. It’s always going to be about us. How we work, how we work with each other and how we hold each other accountable. And I think that’s what they’re doing there. You know what I mean?
They try to push each other along with the rest of the secondary because I think it’s very competitive. I sat up here in August and said I had a group that was young, inexperienced but talented. We were going to play a lot of guys, and you see that they’re pushing each other with them two. And it’s good to see because Rickey’s really come on the last couple of weeks— the last three or four ball games. You can see the confidence being built. Obviously, Jermod is doing the same thing. So it’s good to push each other.”
On what impresses him about Diego Pavia and Vanderbilt’s offense
“He’s such a great player. He’s so savvy, instinctive. The thing that us defensive coaches, you look at something, and you got a quarterback that’s really good off schedule. I mean, when there’s pressure brought on him he has a knack of making the right decisions, avoiding that pass rush, avoiding moving it out of the pocket, and can run it. But he’s also pump fake and and made some great plays. His eyes are down the field. He’s a competitor. You can see that. Anytime the guy’s touching the ball on every play and it’s that guy, we’ve seen it, whether it’s the NFL or college football, major college football, any level. The quarterback’s touching the ball every time. You have somebody that’s that talented, that gifted, and can play off schedule really well and make good decisions. They don’t turn the ball over. You can see that. He does a great job of commanding the offense. So we got to be really disciplined, man. We got to be really good communication and, and, and doing our job because he’s a great creator once things don’t go right.”
On how Boo Carter playing on special teams has helped him improve
“It’s a great point. A lot. That’s the one thing. It’s not just Boo. It could be anybody. You know what I mean? Without naming any names because there’s a lot of them. There really is in the back end. And it’s a space play. They’re defensive backs. Wide receivers, (and) defensive backs deal with space where they have to avoid it or they have to close it. And you’re gonna build it because it’s not easy, but you have to have a gift. You have enough talent to run down on kick off. You know what I mean? Do your job. It’s not really complicated. You could be a contained player, a full player, a ball guy, a safety and so to speak. So you’re getting the same teachings you would get on defense, the code words. Don’t trade one for one. And on defense, you can’t trade a blocker for a blocker. You have to get off the block. Right? So you’re here now in special teams, so it’s a carryover. The verbiage is the same. Our verbiage on defense is the same as Coach Ek(eler) and the special teams staff. You know what I mean? So the more he hears it, the same thing over and over and over, the more confidence you get. So it translates perfect. It’s what we call transferable skills. So whether you’re an offensive or defensive guy, it’s helped a lot. And, obviously, his gift of catching the football and and after catching it, what he does, he is a great knack for that. Great instincts.”
On playing fast against a Vanderbilt team that runs a lot of misdirection
“I mean, you go in every week. You have different offenses, different schemes. You know? So focus on the job itself first. What’s your job? How are we gonna do this? How are we gonna defend this scheme or whatever? To play fast, you got to know what to do. I mean, that’s the bottom line. That’s what it is. So there’s a little bit more, obviously, to it now. You ‘re facing an option team, triple option. And then you also have the passing game off of it with different types of formations and motions. So just doing your job, doing it very confidently. There’s a lot of carryover throughout the year, you know what I mean— we’re careful as coaches. Let’s not give them too much Let’s call this. This is exactly how we play this. So it’s just we’re just gonna tweak it a little bit. Knowing your job gives you the confidence to go ahead and do your job at a fast pace, so to speak. But you have to do it with great eye discipline. We say it every day. That’s gonna be really big for us on Saturday.”
