Exclusive: Why Clark Lea and Vanderbilt Football Have Changed The Plan For Martel Hight Entering 2026 Season – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—-Martel Hight strolled the hallways at the Omni in Atlanta with a Vanderbilt public relations staffer walking alongside him, and he couldn’t help but know what was coming as he did so. 
The first question to Hight was easy. He was set to begin a journey in which he was setting out to play cornerback and wide receiver while returning punts. Hight had two seasons of good cornerback and punt returning tape under his belt, but believed he could add more to Vanderbilt’s downfield passing game as a receiver. 
Hight was approached by Vanderbilt offensive advisor Jerry Kill about the move while catching passes from former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia on the turf at Vanderbilt’s indoor practice field, and was all ears. With the result of that conversation, Hight became one of the stories of the league’s media day. 
Just under a year later, Hight isn’t as much of a story as he was a year ago as he transitions back to taking snaps primarily at cornerback. But, there are more important things at play than Media Day buzz for Hight these days. 
“We've just kept him focused defensively,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea told Vandy on SI. “I think that's the right thing for him. I'm not opposed to exploring a package or a couple of routes that he can run.
But we like our receiver core, too. This is a group that we went out and added some production to, and I think we were unsure a year ago how that would shape up and really felt like Martel–I mean, he's such a dynamic athlete, keeping him on the field as much as we could, but we can't do that at the expense of his ability to play corner.” 
Vanderbilt's receiver core includes veteran receiver Junior Sherrill–who is among the team’s best overall players, Old Dominion transfer Ja’Cory Thomas, Alabama transfer Cole Adams as well as talented role players Joseph McVay, Brycen Coleman and Tristen Brown. It’s not as if Lea’s group is projected to be the SEC’s best at that position, but he doesn’t believe the room is in dire straits like it was a spring ago, before standout receiver Tre Richardson arrived on campus. 
Hight worked primarily on offense a summer ago and truly believed he could be a factor playing both ways. He played receiver in high school and caught 37 passes for 548 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns in his senior year before fully transitioning to cornerback. 
In reality, though, Hight was targeted just 11 times over the course of the season while playing 55 offensive snaps, catching just seven balls and accounting for just 64 yards and no touchdowns. Hight played more than 10 offensive snaps in three of Vanderbilt’s first four games, and never did again. Just one throw went Hight’s way after week four. 
Hight’s season grade as a receiver was just a 61.1–which was No. 15 among the pass catchers on Vanderbilt’s roster. What Hight did at receiver was house money, though. What mattered was what happened on the other side. 
In what ended up being Hight’s final game as a semi-full-time receiver, he posted a 32.3 grade at corner–which was the lowest of his career by over 10 points. That outing–and Hight’s season as a whole prompted Lea and company to do some reflecting. 
“We were trying to do a lot with him this time last year,” Lea said. 
”We were playing him both ways, and I felt like his performance suffered as a coroner. I think as we really honed in and had him focus on defense, you saw his play potential start to peak.” 
Hight had just one game following week four in which he graded out below a 50 and had three outings in which he graded out over a 70. Hight’s best outing came against Kentucky, when he received a 93.9 grade–which was a career best. 
When it was all said and done, Hight was the only player in FBS with more than 70 yards in interception returns, more than 50 receiving yards and more than 50 yards in kick returns. More importantly, he was back to being an effective corner. Hight likely wouldn’t profess that 2025 was a career year for him, but he made up ground to make the campaign successful at corner. 
Hight finished the season with four interceptions, two PDs and 25 solo tackles. Now, he’s got a plan of action to improve his profile as a corner. Nobody at Vanderbilt is quite closing the door on him taking an offensive snap here or there, though.
“Obviously, he's built some foundational knowledge within our offensive system,” Lea said, “He's also our returner, so that's an area that we need to get him loose a little more. As good as we were on special teams last year, that was a place where we really struggled, and so we're gonna let him impact winning in those two roles and see where our receiver group nets out as we go through the summer.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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