“We need to get him opportunities," Clark Lea talks Martel Hight's role as two-way piece

Clark Lea and the Vanderbilt coaching staff have learned over the years that good things generally happen when the ball is in Martel Hight’s hands.

Hight–a cornerback by trade–has two touchdowns in his career, one that he ran back 37 yards to become Vanderbilt’s first freshman to return an interception for a touchdown. Perhaps the other one was more of a true endorsement of his ability in the open field. Hight ran 57 yards to turn a punt into a touchdown. That play marked his only return for a touchdown in 2024, but was the standout play in a season in which he was named second-team All-SEC for his production as a punt returner.

“I think of it as a game of tag," Hight said when referring to returning punts after that Alcorn State game. "I try not to get touched."

In that case, Hight was never touched. In most other ones, it took a few yards for anyone to put on the proverbial tag. As a result, he shouldn’t have been stunned when Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea and staff came to him in the spring and asked if he’d be interested in taking on some duties as a wide receiver.

Vanderbilt’s receiver room clearly left something to be desired throughout spring practice and appeared to need at least one more weapon. Perhaps Hight could be an answer for it.

“Our goal is to get our best 11 on the field and offensively to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers and Martel is certainly one of those, so he’s going to have a role [on offense],” Lea told Vandy on SI. “He’s continued to develop that through the summer. We’ll find ways to split his practice time in fall camp.”

Hight took his first reps at receiver in spring practice and appeared to have some natural ability there despite a two-year hiatus from the position. The 6-foot, 180 pound Vanderbilt junior did play receiver as a high schooler and went for 1,069 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior.

Vanderbilt adds Hight to a receiver room that adds transfer receivers Trent Hudson and Tre Richardson ahead of fall camp and gets returning receiver Richie Hoskins—who missed spring ball—back from injury. Even with Vanderbilt having more depth in that room, Lea is doubling down on the idea that Hight will play offense, defense and special teams.

How much of a workload he takes on offensively has yet to be determined, though.

“We need to get him opportunities to impact winning,” Lea said. “We’re gonna do that. Wherever that rep count slides is just a matter of how we play In that room in addition to him and then what the level of performance is defensively where we feel like we're strong enough at corner to give him offensive reps.”

Lea said in the spring that Hight will likely end up playing somewhere from 60-80 snaps per game across the three positions. Most of those—as well as his practice reps—will likely come at corner, but his practice routine may not necessarily be reflective of that on certain days.

Hight will get work in at all three phases throughout the course of Vanderbilt’s morning practices in the fall. In Lea’s mind, cornerbacks coach Jamaal Richardson and wide receivers coach Alex Bailey will have to be unselfish in regards to practice plans. At times, their units won’t be at full strength as Hight moves around. What matters more is avoiding wearing down Vanderbilt’s three-way player, though.

“It takes a level of collaboration as a staff,” Lea said. “I'm proud of the staff for how they’ve managed it to this point. I'm proud of Martel for how he's managed it to this point. It’ll be new waters that we're wading into in the fall, but I think there's a level of excitement for everyone involved because we see the potential and I think using him in that way is is a great thing for Vanderbilt football.”

Something like this happening has to be mutual, though. Perhaps that’s why it could work come the fall.

When Vanderbilt presented the idea to Hight, he knew that it would increase his workload. He was in, though.

“He believes in himself,” Lea said, “And when we brought it up to him, he was really excited about it.”