Tate Martell was supposed to be the one leading Ohio State to glory this season.
The five-star quarterback recruit was the heir apparent to Dwayne Haskins in Columbus before Justin Fields transferred from Georgia and usurped the job as the starter. Fields has taken Ohio State to a 12-0 record and essentially a guaranteed spot in the College Football Playoff.
Martell took a hardship waiver to Miami, lost the quarterback battle there to Jarren Williams, switched positions to receiver and now has taken two leaves of absence from the team.
Miami coach Manny Diaz was asked by WQAM radio host Zach Krantz whether Martell would be back for the team’s bowl game and if “everything is OK with him and this team?’’
“That’s actually not for sure,’’ Diaz said, according to the Miami Herald. “No. Tate and I spoke about 10 days ago about him sort of getting right here in the two-week period of our last two games. So, again, it’s on him. And when he feels like he’s got his mind right to come back, we’re ready for him. And I hope it is for the bowl.’’
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In the sophomore’s absence, the confusion around his status has grown. This is where things get a little dicey.
The Miami football message boards have pulled tweets believed to be from Martell’s mom’s since-deleted Twitter account. In those messages, Tafi Martell purportedly asks for Tate to call his family and says that the 21-year-old has been unreachable. It is also stated that Tate’s girlfriend, Instagram model Kiki Passo, is a “horrible person.”
Passo responded to the rumors that she is responsible for Tate’s absence.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth as I’ve pushed him to keep going ever since he lost the job,” Passo wrote in a Twitter response. “I wholeheartedly believe in him and think he has a bright future ahead of him. And the people who are around us everyday know this.”
Martell cooled some doubts in an Instagram post from the Hurricanes program, saying he was not transferring last week.
“My leave of absence is due [to personal] reasons,” Martell wrote. “At this time, I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to discuss these reasons. There might be a time, down the road, when I believe it is appropriate to talk about this publicly. For the time being, I need some time to focus on these issues. I wish my boys nothing but the best.”