Defensive backs coach Willie Martinez and defensive line coach Rodney Garner are the senior citizens of Tennessee's football coaching staff, having combined for 68 seasons of college experience, including 50 working in the Southeastern Conference.
Each is in his second stint in Knoxville, with Garner having been part of Phillip Fulmer's 1997 SEC championship squad and with Martinez having served on the consecutive 9-4 teams in 2015-16 under Butch Jones. The two worked together at Georgia from 2001-09 under Mark Richt, with the Bulldogs landing league titles in 2002 and 2005 and finishing No. 2 nationally to LSU in 2007.
So where does the recently completed 11-2 season by the Volunteers rank?
"It's at the top. It really is. We just won an Orange Bowl championship," Martinez said minutes after Tennessee picked up its 11th win with a 31-14 downing of Clemson inside Hard Rock Stadium. "We wanted to be in the playoff, and we let that thing slip away, but they bounced back, and we had a great year. We had a lot of great victories, and we had a lot of great moments.
"It took the whole group. It took all three phases. There is a great culture here, and I'm excited for these guys."
Martinez and Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel were assistants on Oklahoma's 2010-11 teams that won 21 games, including the Fiesta Bowl following the 2010 season. Garner had never worked with Heupel previously, but his familiarity with the program made the return opportunity appealing in February 2021.
Even with the Vols coming off a 3-7 season in 2020 and facing university and NCAA investigations into alleged violations under former coach Jeremy Pruitt.
"You knew what you were walking into with everything that was going on, and there was a lot of noise," Garner said, "but I knew what I was walking into from being here previously and knowing the tradition and the passion and the history behind this program. I told Coach Heup that we were going to have unbelievable support and that people were hungry for it.
"If we could show a passion and show unity, our fans were going to get behind us and ride this thing with us, and that's exactly what's happened."
Tennessee Athletics photo by Andrew Ferguson / Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner speaks to players following the 31-14 Orange Bowl win over Clemson on Dec. 30.Garner compares Tennessee's two-year turnaround to the one-year eruption he experienced at Auburn in 2013. He had spent the previous 15 seasons at Georgia before returning to his alma mater under first-year Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn.
The Tigers had been a woeful 3-9 in 2012, losing to Georgia and Alabama by a combined 87-0, but Auburn's 2013 team used the "Prayer in Jordan-Hare" against the Bulldogs and the "Kick Six" against the Crimson Tide to win the SEC and reach the final title game of the Bowl Championship Series era.
"I rank this right there with that, because both programs at the time were in dire need and were in despair," Garner said. "Auburn had been 3-9 the previous year, and we went 12-2. Take the same thing here, because when we got here, the team had just gone 3-7. We went 7-6 last year and started building it.
"To go 11-2 and be Orange Bowl champions with the same kids who people said weren't anything and weren't valuable and had been beaten up, and to see them get the pride back in themselves and believe in themselves is something that nobody can take away from them."
There is no question Garner and Martinez have dealt with more talent in prior locales. Garner had a stretch in Athens when he got to work with Marcus Stroud, Richard Seymour, Charles Grant, Johnathan Sullivan and David Pollack, and recent years at Auburn contained the likes of Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson.
When Martinez was Georgia's defensive coordinator and secondary coach in 2005, the Bulldogs had three of the four All-SEC defensive backs with DeMario Minter, Tim Jennings and Greg Blue.
Fast-forward to this past season, and Martinez had starting cornerback Warren Burrell for only two games and had five other defensive backs — Christian Charles, Trevon Flowers, Kamal Hadden, Jaylen McCollough and Brandon Turnage — miss multiple contests as well.
"We epitomized the next-man guy all season," Martinez said. "We've had a lot of injuries in the back end, but our guys didn't blink. Our entire team in 23 months has overcome a lot, and that's why we're just so proud for these guys. We've got a great staff and a great support staff, but they were the ones who did it.
"They bought in, and it's really fun to watch these guys celebrate now. We all recognize where this program was, and to get it here — we're just proud for Tennessee."
When asked about the culture Heupel has established and the culture that Richt instilled and maintained, Martinez said: "That's a fair comparison. I've been very blessed to be a part of some really good programs, and I could not be happier than I am right now."
Martinez will turn 60 next month and Garner 57 this summer. The two have most of their coaching years behind them, but that doesn't mean all their best years have to be in the rearview mirror.
This past season proved that, with a resounding win at LSU and a thrilling triumph over Alabama only enhancing their excitement for more.
"For me personally, this has been very rewarding," Garner said. "In coming back to Tennessee, I wanted to play whatever little role I could play in helping this program get back to the elite status where it belongs. My last game at Tennessee when I was here before was the Orange Bowl, and obviously we stunk that one up pretty good, so to see these kids come out here and play for one another and the 'T' on the side of that helmet and have fun is what it's all about.
"That's what we've tried to teach since we got back here. We're all blessed to be at Tennessee, and we don't ever want to take that for granted."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.