When Jonathan Smith was hired to be the next head coach of Michigan State, just like any other new coach, he had to build a staff of assistant coaches.

In January, Smith made one key hire that already seems to be paying off in a big way even before any Jonathan Smith-led Michigan State teams have taken the field. The impact of this hire won't stop when the Spartans take the field on Saturdays either.

That key hire is cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin.

Martin, the 51-year-old former Spartan football player, comes to Michigan State with a heavy reputation of being an elite recruiter and talent developer. He has been coaching defensive backs at the collegiate level for over 20 years now, starting in 2001 at Pasadena City College. Throughout the rest of his coaching tenure, he’s also made stops at power five schools such as USC, Washington, UCLA, Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon.

The elite recruiter side of Martin is already making a mark in East Lansing.

In currently just over six months, Martin has completely rebuilt the cornerback room for the Spartans and created a strong foundation by adding six total players on the recruiting trail. Three of those six players are 2025 commits -- three stars Aydan West and George Mullins along with Michigan State’s most recent and currently highest-rated commit four-star LaRue Zamorano.

The other three additions came from the transfer portal window this spring in Arizona State transfer Ed Woods, North Carolina transfer Lejond Cavazos, and LSU transfer Jeremiah Hughes. Woods and Cavazos come in as older guys who project to play potential starting reps at corner for the Spartans this season, while Hughes comes in as a talented true sophomore with multiple years of remaining eligibility and should be a strong foundation piece for the future.

After Martin was hired, Smith spoke very highly of his talent development.

“He has developed players at the highest level both on and off the field throughout his entire career," Smith said.

That can certainly be proven by Martin’s track record at various schools and it's something that should give Spartan fans heavy optimism. Martin can have this secondary in a great spot not only this season but for years to come.

Some notable talent development accolades of Martin’s coaching career include all-league players, NFL draft picks, and top-of-the-conference passing defenses. Martin, in his five years at UCLA from 2012 to 2017, which is his longest-tenured job to this point, coached 11 defensive backs who received All-Pac-12 honors. In just his two seasons at Oregon in 2022 and 2023, he coached three All-Pac-12 defensive backs as well.

Some notable NFL draft picks coached by Martin included 2017 third-rounder Fabian Moreau from UCLA, Oregon 2023 first-round pick Christian Gonzalez, and a pair of 2024 fourth-round picks also from Oregon in Evan Williams and Khyree Jackson.

Martin also had some of the best secondaries in the Pac-12 at multiple jobs. At Washington in 2010, he coached the Huskies to a second-ranked passing defense in the conference. Then, he coached UCLA to a top-ranked Pac-12 passing defense in 2015, while following that up with a pass defense efficiency good enough for the seventh-best in the entire country the year after. Finally, at Martin’s most recent job - Oregon - he coached Oregon to the best passing defense in the Pac-12.

Martin can only do so much. A lot of the improvement of the secondary depends on the players on the field on Saturdays. Michigan State has had its issues in the secondary, finishing 98th, 82nd, and 130th in opponent passing yards per game in the last three years.

Martin has retooled this Michigan State secondary. Looking at this secondary group compared to years past, the depth looks much improved. In previous years, a couple of starters would go down with injuries and Michigan State would be forced to go with underclassmen who would start some of their first games against Ohio State, Washington, and some of the other powerhouses of college football. Those teams that the Spartans faced had multiple early-round NFL draft picks at the receiver position.

This year, with the job Michigan State did in the transfer portal, along with retaining key guys in the secondary, the Spartans look to have experienced players available in the two-deep throughout the secondary. Guys like Woods, Cavazos, Charles Brantley, Chance Rucker, Dillion Tatum, Malik Spencer, Angelo Grose, Nikai Martinez, and Armorion Smith will all be potential week one starters in the secondary, and if not, they should all be in the two-deep. That’s nine guys Michigan State has at their disposal with already multiple games and even seasons of college football experience.

That alone should give them an advantage on game days that - on top of the coaching job Martin and the rest of the staff will do in this secondary - should allow people to see an improved product in terms of passing defense.

Martin has done some elite-level coaching at multiple jobs throughout his career and his alma mater Michigan State will be where he continues that elite-level coaching. Spartan fans should be excited about what Martin can bring to this Michigan State defense and should expect to see some improvement as quickly as this season.

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