Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez talks to freshman cornerback Evan Berry during the Vols’ practice on Sunday.KNOXVILLE — Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez will face further recruiting restrictions stemming from impermissible contact with a prospect in May 2014, according to documents the program released in Sunday night.
Martinez was suspended from coaching in Saturday’s season opener against Bowling Green, which the Volunteers won 59-30, and will be suspended from off-campus recruiting for the first 30 days of the September 2015 evaluation period and the first five days of the November-December contact period.
Tennessee’s coaching staff also suffers a 10-day deduction in evaluation days for the spring 2016 evaluation period.
The program self-reported the secondary violation to the SEC office.
“The University of Tennessee believes appropriate corrective actions were taken to ensure a similar Level III violation does not occur in the future,” Matthew Hibbs, Tennessee’s associate athletic director for compliance, wrote to the SEC.