UMass LB Tyler Martin Chose To Stay And Lead
Tyler Martin reflects on staying at UMass, leading the linebacker room and building toward 2026.
Tyler Martin didn’t have to stay.
In an era where movement is constant and opportunities exist elsewhere and in a situation where the results have not matched the sacrifices a player like Martin has made for the program, nobody would have blamed him for leaving.
But the UMass linebacker made the decision to return for a fourth season in Amherst, a choice that says plenty about the internal view of the program among its leaders, but even more about Martin as a person.
“It means a whole lot to me,” said Martin. “I lived my whole life in Acton, Mass., just an hour and 15 minutes down Route 2 is UMass. My biggest thing was wanting to come here and leave it better than I found it when I got here and I think that we’re working towards that.
“That ultimately was really what made up my mind. I’ve never been someone to leave something before it’s finished, especially when I truly love the place. And I’ve fallen in love with this place ever since I got here four years ago. And that’s why we’re riding this thing out and couldn’t be more excited to be back and have a leadership role on this team and just continue to get better every single day. Incremental growth is the biggest thing.”
That decision again places Martin in a leadership role inside Garrett Gillick’s linebacker room that blends experience with the additions of Khari Bendolph, Josh Iseah and Kendric Council via the transfer portal.
“It’s awesome,” Martin said during a press conference after the second practice of the spring on Thursday. “I love the three guys we added. Myself, Timmy Hinspeter and then the two young guys, David Timson and Dinos (Drossos), we’re the four returners in the room, two old guys, two young guys, but it’s been great.
“We’ve all been gelling really, really well. Coach Gillick does a great job kind of taking all the different personalities, being able to coach everyone the right way, coach everyone hard, but love us at the same time. So it’s been great.”
With another year in head coach Joe Harasymiak and defensive coordinator Jared Keyte’s system, Martin believes that experience is already making a difference.
“I think the biggest thing is for myself, at least personally, having a year of playing in the system, coming back and being able to be that, I guess you could say semi coach on the field and kind of help those younger guys and new guys with that sort of thing,” Martin said. “I think that definitely helps. And obviously Timmy’s been in this system forever coming into his fifth year of playing in it at first with Rutgers and Coach H running it and now here with Coach H at the helm and Coach Keyte running it.
“I would say that’s the biggest difference is kind of having myself and Timmy having a year under our belt of playing in it and kind of being able to be those leaders in the room.”
After a disappointing 2025 season, Martin downplayed the impact of any potential scheme changes.
“Scheme is scheme,” he said. “The players make it what it is and we’re just going to go out, do whatever the coaches ask of us and just try to put our best foot forward. The biggest thing with defense, and the coaches always try to hit it, is defense is really all about effort.
“You can coach whatever scheme you really want, but if guys aren’t going to play hard and get to the ball, it really doesn’t matter where you throw out there for a scheme. If you run zone, man, really doesn’t matter all that much. So I think whatever they do, I think the players, we trust them and we’re just going to put our best foot forward.”
That mindset has been reinforced throughout the offseason, particularly during winter workouts with strength coach George Greene and his assistants Ibn Foster and Jeff Stern.
“Coach Greene is the best strength coach I’ve ever been around and coming into year five of college football,” Martin said. “I can’t say enough great things about him and his staff; Coach Ibn and Coach Stern.
“Those guys every single day bring the energy, bring the juice like it’s game day. And I think that that’s super important for this group because at the end of the day, I think sometimes it’s hard to bring the energy when you’re coming in at 6 am on a Wednesday, Tuesday morning. But when those guys are the ones doing it and kind of helping you out and do that, and if you’re coaches, sorry to the coaches in the room, they’re a little bit older, but if they can have juice that early, we can definitely have juice that early.
As one of the older players on the roster, Martin has embraced the responsibility that comes with experience.
“I think the biggest thing is just bringing guys along,” he said. “I think when you’ve been in college football for five years like me and other guys, maybe longer, maybe only four years, but the older guys are a part of this team, the biggest thing is just making sure that guys come in the same every single day.”
Even after a season that didn’t meet expectations, Martin believes the experience helped shape both him and the team.
“Last year obviously didn’t go the way that any of us wanted it to, but I think using that to sort of fuel myself, but also just broaden the team, coaches included, support staff, everybody, that it’s really hard to win at this level,” he said. “One thing that us leaders have really tried to tell the younger guys and tell the new guys to this program is like, ‘Be grateful that we get to go out and do this every day because not everyone has this opportunity.’
“I think that that’s really what I took away because obviously the win-loss column didn’t look great, but I think as a whole, as a player, as a person, I grew tremendously in just realizing that I’m so blessed to have this opportunity and go out and do this. And at the end of the day, I mean, have my best personal season to date of my four years at that point in college football and just looking to grow off that personally, but also as a team and just grow and realize that this is an opportunity that we get to do this every day and we got to just go out and take it now.”
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