It’s transfer season, folks! The time of parting ways and reunion. Amidst the players flipping out, at least there is some good news for a father-son duo. We are talking about former Michigan State coach Demetrice Martin and his son, Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Cole Martin. Till now, fate had played an ugly role, keeping Demetrice and Cole apart, playing for two different programs. Thanks to DeShaun Foster and the UCLA Bruins for helping the father-son duo work together again as a team. It’s just the beginning of the Bruins’ revamp mission, folks! 

In Arizona State, Cole had a very important role to play. After all, he was listed as the program’s second-string nickel back. Sadly, his luck didn’t favor him as the sophomore got sidelined with a hip injury. That brought his one and only season at Arizona State to an end. On December 17, he announced on X that he would be hitting the portal.

Well, this marked the second time that Cole has hit the transfer portal. Before joining the Sun Devils, he was with Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks. And this time, UCLA will be his new home. As many would have guessed, Oregon insider James Crepea disclosed the reason, resharing Cole’s tweet where he confirmed his commitment to the Bruins and captioned it as “HOME 🌹.” The analyst wrote, “Former Oregon DB reuniting with his father, former Oregon CB coach.” Since Cole and his dad both grew up in Pasadena, playing for UCLA will be like a homecoming for him.

On December 2, Jonathan Smith lost his first assistant coach. The MSU alum, Demetrice decided to return to his hometown. He will be serving as the defensive passing game coordinator for the Bruins. With both Cole and Demetrice on board, will UCLA be able to get a repeat of the father-son’s chapter with the Ducks? 

January 2, 2022, was just another day until Cole committed to Oregon. He spent a year there with his dad as coach and played in all 14 games, making 21 tackles, breaking up a pass, and grabbing an interception. Around the same time, Lanning had hired Demetrice as Oregon’s cornerbacks coach and pass game coordinator. So, even though their time at Oregon was short, the father-son duo definitely made an impact. Now Arizona State HC Kenny Dillingham must be unhappy to lose a gem like Cole, right? 

Arizona State HC’s heartfelt message for Cole Martin

Interestingly, HC Dillingham seemed to be more than happy for Cole. Yes, ASU was a familiar territory for the former Arizona high school football standout. After all, it was an ‘on cloud nine’ moment for the Sun Devils when they landed the Ducks transfer. Now that Cole will be following his dad to UCLA, HC Dillingham has a message for him.

Re-sharing Cole’s tweet on December 22, the Arizona State HC wrote, “Playing for your dad in the city you grew up!! Idk if it gets much better than that!!” It’s happy to see Dillingham’s way of dealing with things positively. On the other hand, it’s an absolute WIN-WIN situation for the UCLA HC Foster. Besides landing Demetrice, the Bruins had their eyes on Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers.

To revamp their coaching roster, UCLA hired Hoosiers’ Tino Sunseri as their new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. DeShaun Foster, in his statement, said, “Tino Sunseri is a natural leader of young men and raising star in coaching.” Is the Demetrice Martin-Cole Martin duo and the coaching revamp the key to UCLA’s football resurgence?