South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Martell opts out of season
Redshirt junior QB no longer listed on roster
LOUISVILLE — Miami Hurricanes redshirt junior quarterback Tate Martell has opted out of the 2020 college football season, two sources confirmed to the South Florida Sun Sentinel late Friday night.
On Saturday night, an hour before kickoff to Miami’s game at Louisville, UM released that Martell is officially unavailable for the season, and he is no longer listed on the Hurricanes roster. Removing Martell from the roster is consistent with what the team has done with previous opt-outs — defensive end Gregory Rousseau and offensive linemen Kai-Leon Herbert and Zalon’tae Hillery.
Martell was suspended for UM’s season-opening win against UAB on Sept. 10, but coach Manny Diaz said Martell would be back for the ensuing game.
Martell was not listed on the Hurricanes’ depth chart for the opener. Then Diaz told reporters of the suspension following the UAB game, and Martell was still not on the depth chart for the team’s revised depth chart for the ensuing week. Miami lists D’Eriq King as its starter with N’Kosi Perry his backup and freshman Tyler Van Dyke the thirdstring quarterback.
In addition to Rousseau, Herbert and Hillery, freshman safety
Avantae Williams is also unavailable for the season but due to a preexisting medical condition that was found by Miami doctors upon his enrollment.
Sophomore cornerback Christian Williams played in the opener but decided to enter the transfer portal this past week.
Regardless of Martell’s decision, he remains a redshirt junior as far as college eligibility because the NCAA decided athletes, whether they participate in the season or not, retain the same number of seasons they’re currently allotted going into next season.
If Martell decides to no longer play for the Hurricanes, the former star high school re c r u i t , wh o started his college career at Ohio State, will have only completed one pass for 7 yards and run seven times for 7 yards.
He transferred from OSU to Miami ahead of the 2019 season and lost out on a quarterback competition that also involved Jarren Williams, who has since transferred to Garden City Community College since King’s arrival, and Perry.
Martell was the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year in 2016 at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, which has also produced Miami tight end Brevin Jordan and safety Bubba Bolden.
He developed celebrity status as he was featured on the first season of Netflix Series “QB1: Beyond the Lights.” Martell has more than 242,000 followers on Instagram and 145,000 on Twitter.