Miami QB Tate Martell leaves late-night message for fans on eve of Duke game
University of Miami reserve quarterback Tate Martell, the high-profile Ohio State transfer who is on his second leave of absence to work out personal issues, left a message for fans on an Instagram story he posted after midnight Friday.
The Hurricanes (6-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) face the Duke Blue Devils (4-7, 2-5) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in their final regular-season game at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Martell’s message:
“for those asking: I’m not transferring from the university of miami. my leave of absence is due [to] person[al] reasons. at this time, i don’t think it’s appropriate for me to discuss these reasons.
“there might be a time, down the road, when i believe it is appropriate to talk about this publicly.
“for the time being, i need some time to focus on these issues.
“i wish my boys nothing but the best tomorrow against duke. #gocanes.”
Martell, a nationally popular redshirt sophomore and the 2016 Gatorade Player of the Year out of Las Vegas Gorman Bishop High, transferred to UM from the Buckeyes in January. He did not have to sit out the customary transfer year after the NCAA approved his waiver request to play immediately.
But Martell lost the quarterback starting race to Jarren Williams and backup N’Kosi Perry during fall camp and in 11 games has never thrown a pass for the Hurricanes.
UM coach Manny Diaz said this past Monday that Martell “reiterated that Miami is where he wants to be, doesn’t want to leave. But he’s got to resolve these issues and we support him in that.”
According to what coaches have said, Martell has been battling the emotional turmoil of the “roller-coaster’’ season and how he fits into the program. The other Hurricanes, such as former Bishop Gorman teammates Brevin Jordan and Bubba Bolden, have been supportive.
This is Martell’s second leave of absence this season. He missed the game Oct. 26 game at Pittsburgh due to what Diaz called back then a “medical leave of absence.’’ He returned immediately afterward for Florida State week.
Martell was converted to a receiver earlier this season, which was his choice, Diaz said. But he never has caught a pass for the Hurricanes.
His UM stats: Two rushes in four games for 2 yards.
When told recently that Martell hadn’t played a lot and asked if he the quarterback had his own wildcat package, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Dan Enos said, “I think Tate has had some issues here and there, things of that nature that he’s been going through. And we’re obviously here to support him.
“We had a package [against Louisville] that was ready for him. We just didn’t get to it. It wasn’t anything that he did or didn’t do.
“Tate is a guy now that has kind of settled in to where he’s going to be. He’s kind of had a little bit of a roller-coaster situation about positions and things like that. But he’s been a guy the last couple of weeks that has really practiced really hard and has been really diligent about his preparation. We’ll always have some things in there that we can do with him and it will be kind of how the flow of the game goes. If we think we need to do it we’ll use it. If not we’ll just continue to work it.”
Diaz was asked recently if receiver was not the ideal fit for Martell.
“It was really letting him dictate,’’ the coach said. “Receiver was his idea at the beginning. That was not something we pushed on him. And going to quarterback is what he felt like he wanted to transition back to, and we were fine with that, too.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 9:06 AM.
