After signing an extension just a couple weeks ago, Cuonzo Martin is packing his bags for the west coast to take the head coaching job for the California Bears after three years with the Tennessee Volunteers.
California’s current players were just informed that Cuonzo Martin will be their new head coach, sources told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) April 15, 2014
Even with improving UT’s record each year he was there, Martin took a lot of heat at UT the last season. Fans even signed a petition to fire Martin and hire Bruce Pearl. The petition received 36,000 signatures.
That was until his Volunteers made an impressive run in the NCAA Tournament winning 3 games before losing a heartbreaker to Michigan.
Many Volunteer fans jumped on the Cuonzo bandwagon when the Vols landed in the Sweet 16 and some even petitioned for him to get a raise.
The California job seems like a lateral move, so it might be safe to assume they Martin will be getting a pay raise with the new job. Or it could be that the fan base pushed him to get out of Tennessee with their antics last season.
It is unclear right now what is included in Martin’s contract, so look for updates on that and keep checking back for insights into who Tennessee will replace Cuonzo with to be the 19th Men’s head basketball coach to take the reigns for the Volunteers.
