Michigan State football: Demetrice Martin reportedly leaving for UCLA

Well, the rumors have officially become reports. On Monday, Jim Comparoni of SpartanMag broke the news that Michigan State football would be losing defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin to UCLA.

Not great.

BREAKING🚨 Michigan State DB coach Demetrice Martin is headed to UCLA per @JimComparoni pic.twitter.com/qaW3gfwRNe

— Michigan State Content (@msucontent) December 2, 2024

Earlier on Monday, I posted a story about a Michigan State defensive back commit tweeting a cryptic message amid the rumors of Martin heading to UCLA and now it feels like LaRue Zamorano could be following his position coach.

Martin leaving for UCLA is a kick in the groin for the Spartans, especially since that program would be considered a lateral move. Martin is leaving his alma mater to be the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator for a program that arguably cares less about football. Sure, adding the passing game coordinator to his job description can be considered a bigger job, but he’s going to a program that isn’t his alma mater to essentially do the same exact thing. That’s something you don’t often see, especially not at Michigan State.

From all aspects, it felt like Martin really loved being back at Michigan State, coaching the defensive backs after leaving Oregon a year ago. Jonathan Smith was able to lure him away from the team that is now No. 1 in the country and it felt like a perfect fit.

The defensive backs were hammered by injuries all season long but he did a really solid job with improvement from the Mel Tucker era and he was also one of Michigan State’s best recruiters. Heck, he just helped land a 2027 defensive back from California on Sunday.

Now, Smith needs to get back to the drawing board after reportedly losing one of his top assistants.

This offseason has gotten off to a clunker of a start and hopefully this doesn’t derail the 2025 class even more before signing day. It’s undoubtedly going to hurt the upcoming 2026 class because Martin has been one of the top recruiters on the staff.

Another tough blow to the football program that has been dealt several over the past year.