Michigan State CBs Coach Martin Experienced the Start of the Saban Regime

New Michigan State cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin played under Nick Saban and Mark Dantonio in his final year as a player at Michigan State.

New Michigan State cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin had the honor of playing for two Hall-of-Fame coaches, Nick Saban and Mark Dantonio, during his last season as a Spartan cornerback.

Martin, a four-year letterwinner at Michigan State in the 1990s, played under the late George Perles for three seasons before Saban took over in 1995.

"Being with Coach GP [Perles], rest in peace, it was big for him to come out to recruit me with Dino Folino and all those guys came out to get me -- Coach Charlie Baggett -- all those guys were recruiting me pretty hard," Hawkins told reporters on Thursday. "So, when I got out here, Courtney Hawkins happened to be my host -- he and Alan Haller were my hosts when I got here. So, that was pretty big-time.

"And then, when Coach Saban came in, Coach Dantonio was my position coach. So, me and Coach Dantonio developed a really tight relationship in those years. So, it's awesome."

Martin said some of the lessons he learned from Saban and Dantonio that he has carried over into his coaching are "attention to detail," "trusting in the preparation" and "relying on technique."

"[M]aybe as a young player, I relied on athleticism a lot," he said, "and then, when Coach Saban came in and Coach Dantonio kind of held me down like, 'Hey, calm down. Let's walk down the hill and let's play all the routes instead of just running down there playing one of the routes.' So, trusting in the preparation and relying on the technique, definitely."

After coaching at two high schools and eight colleges, Martin finally returned to Michigan State to join the coaching staff this offseason. He and Hawkins are in the same program together again.

Martin has even been able to see Dantonio since taking on his new role.

"He [Dantonio] came up and took a spin around," Martin said, "and we got to chop it up a little bit in the weight room and talk about it and get to see each other."

Martin was named to the 1994 All-Big Ten First Team, the year before Saban and Dantonio came in.

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