EAST LANSING – Two days before the early signing period opens, Michigan State football lost one commitment and landed another.
Jonathan Smith also reportedly will lose his first assistant coach after his debut season with the Spartans.
Demetrice Martin, an MSU alum, will return to his hometown and UCLA as defensive passing game coordinator and oversee the Bruins’ entire secondary, according to On3.com. He served as cornerbacks coach in his one season back with the Spartans and split duties with secondary coach Blue Adams, who followed Smith from Oregon State.
The move makes sense for Martin, who played cornerback for George Perles and Nick Saban from 1992-95 at MSU. The 51-year-old – who shares the same hometown as Smith of Pasadena, California – spent the previous 14 seasons as an assistant in the Pac-10/Pac-12 with Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Colorado and most recently Oregon. He was the Bruins’ defensive backs coach from 2012-17, adding assistant head coach title under Jim Mora Jr. from 2014-17.
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Martin was the last of the assistant coaching hires in January for Smith, who also recruited Martin’s younger brother while at Idaho, and defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. In April, Martin said he had not been back to MSU in 30 years before joining Smith’s initial staff and had not previously coached east of Colorado. He made $450,000 in the first of a two-year contract this season.
The Spartans (5-7) had eight key players out in the secondary by the end of the season, including starting cornerbacks Charles Brantley and Chance Rucker, and missed a bowl game for the third straight year and fourth time in the last five with Saturday’s 41-14 loss to Rutgers.
With other teams still playing, MSU entered this week tied for 47th in passing yards allowed (206.9) but 85th in passing efficiency defense. They are tied for 11th-worst in the 133-team Football Bowl Subdivision with just 11 forced turnovers this fall; MSU’s nine interceptions are tied for 74th nationally.
Even with Martin returning to California, the Spartans added two defensive back recruits, Evan Young and Khalil Terry, the past two days – one for 2025 and the other Smith’s first pledge for the 2027 season.
However, after news of Martin’s departure broke, MSU lost a pledge Monday night from three-star defensive back LaRue Zamorano from Corona, California, who picked the Spartans in July with Martin’s recruitment.
MSU filled that spot with Young from Lufkin, Texas. The Spartans remain at 16 commits heading into the early signing period, which runs Wednesday-Friday. The 6-foot, 180-pound safety picked the Spartans over offers from eight mid- to lower-level FBS programs. He is rated a three-star prospect according to 247Sports.com but is not listed in the recruiting website’s composite rankings.
That comes a day after the Spartans picked up a pledge from Terry for their 2027 class. The sophomore at Tustin High in California is an Ohio native, and his father Curtis Terry played at Ohio State and is defensive coordinator at Division II Bluefield State in West Virginia.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football losing CBs coach Demetrice Martin to UCLA
