KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's search to fill a football coaching vacancy on offense remains ongoing, but the Volunteers announced their first defensive move Monday.
Charlton Warren, who spent the previous two seasons in the same position at North Carolina, will replace Willie Martinez as Tennessee's defensive backs coach.
Before coaching with the Tar Heels, Warren, an Atlanta native, spent one season (2014) at Nebraska and coached at Air Force for nine seasons (2005-13). He was the Falcons' defensive coordinator for the final two seasons of his stint at his alma mater. Warren was also was Air Force's recruiting coordinator for seven seasons.
Warren agreed to a two-year deal with the Vols for an annual base salary of $450,000, according to a Tennessee official.
"We would like to welcome Coach Warren, his wife, Jocelyn, and their three children to the Tennessee family," Tennessee coach Butch Jones said in a released statement. "Coach Warren is a passionate, knowledgeable and driven football coach that has an outstanding history of developing defensive backs on the collegiate level.
Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez shouts instruction during a Vols' bowl practice at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex in December 2016."He also has a great reputation as one of the top recruiters in the country with strong ties to our recruiting areas. We feel extremely fortunate to add someone of his caliber to our coaching staff and our defensive meeting room."
The writing has been on the wall for Martinez, the former Georgia defensive coordinator who spent the past four seasons with the Vols. His secondary started 11 different combinations in 13 games due to injuries and suspensions and struggled mightily during the 2016 season.
Tennessee finished 10th in the SEC in pass defense and allowed a league-high 24 completions of 30 or more yards.
Contrary to previous reports, Martinez had a year remaining on his contract, which runs through February 2018 and includes a $395,000 base salary. Tennessee will owe him the more than $420,000 left on the final 13 months of his deal. If Martinez lands another job, Tennessee's buyout would be mitigated by his new salary.
"I have known Willie Martinez for a long time and have the utmost respect for him as a coach and a person," Jones said. "I want to thank him for all his contributions to the Tennessee program over the past four seasons. Making changes on your staff is never easy, but we feel it's necessary as we move forward as a program."
With Warren on staff, North Carolina led the ACC in pass defense this season after finishing third in the league in 2015. The Tar Heels underwent a drastic defensive improvement in Warren's first season, when North Carolina allowed two fewer touchdowns per game than in 2014. The Heels led the ACC in interceptions in 2015.
In 2014, Nebraska ranked fifth nationally in passing efficiency defense and 32nd in passing yards allowed. Bo Pelini hired Warren following the 2013 season, and Warren initally was retained by new Cornhuskers coach Mike Riley. Warren left Lincoln in February 2015 to reunite with North Carolina coach Larry Fedora, a former Air Force teammate.
"Anyone who meets him could see he's a very impressive person," Riley said of Warren in a January 2015 interview with the Omaha World-Herald.
Nebraska secondary coach Charlton Warren smiles during team practice in Lincoln, Neb., Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)Air Force reached six bowl games during Warren's nine seasons as a coach there, and during his playing career the Falcons had a pair of seasons of double-digit wins in 1997 (10-3) and 1998 (12-1).
Warren graduated from the Academy in 1999 and performed his active service as a systems acquisition manager at Warner Robins Air Force Base in Georgia and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida before completing his master's degree in business administration at Georgia College and State University.
He spent training camp with the Houston Texans in 2007 as part of an NFL minority internship program.
North Carolina State's George Barlow, who coached with Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop at Vanderbilt, and Colorado State's Terry Fair, a former Vol who was a quality control coach during Jones' first two seasons at Tennessee, previously were considered candidates to replace Martinez.
Instead the Vols landed Warren, whose 2016 salary was $314,650, according to the USA Today coaching salary database.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.