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Nebraska Football: Let’s meet new tight ends coach Josh Martin

By Oliver Vandervoort

A children's play area outside the stadium before the game between the Nebraska Cornhuskers (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
A children's play area outside the stadium before the game between the Nebraska Cornhuskers (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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Nebraska football has a new tight-ends coach. Because of the abruptness of the change and where he came from, fans might not know much about Josh Martin.

Martin took over what might be the most talented position group on the team last week after former tight-ends coach Bob Wager resigned. Wager stepped down or was told to step down after being cited for a DWI while head coach Matt Rhule and company were in Indianapolis for Big Ten Media Days.

In Wager’s place, Martin was elevated from special teams analyst. The first bit to note about that is that it means he returns to being a full-time college football assistant coach for the first time since 2021.

Nebraska football’s Josh Martin has interesting path

While Martin joined the staff as an analyst aiming at helping Special Teams Coordinator Ed Foley fix a special teams unit that has mostly been terrible for the last six years, he’s got good experience as a tight ends coach.

From 2018 to 2021, Martin was SMU’s tight ends coach, and in that time, he was able to help guide two players from a resurgent Mustangs program to make it to the NFL. Of the two, Kylen Granson stands out as his best work, getting picked in the fourth round of the 2021 draft and went on to catch 31 passes for the Indianapolis Colts last season.

Grant Calcaterra was taken out of SMU in the 6th round of the 2022 NFL draft and went on to catch six passes for 81 yards last season.

With guys like Arik Gilbert and Thomas Fidone on the roster and dudes like Ian Flynt and Carter Nelson coming in, there are plenty of players that could eventually be NFL players in their own right under the right tutelage.

After leaving SMU when new head coach Rhett Lashlee was hired, the newest member of the Nebraska football coaching staff spent 2022 at Little Elm High School in Texas as an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.

It should surprise no one that his coaching history (including a stop at Arizona State before SMU) means Martin has deep ties in Texas. That’s been a popular trait with Matt Rhule’s hires.

The Nebraska football program has made it clear it’s important to recruit in Texas. Martin takes over the job that Bob Wager was hired to do in that regard seamlessly.

Josh Martin, along with the rest of the Nebraska football staff, officially got to work this morning preparing the team for the regular season.

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