Jonathan Smith filled his final assistant coaching position with a familiar name to Michigan State football fans.

The Spartans hired Demetrice Martin to coach cornerbacks, the school announced Wednesday. The former starting cornerback for George Perles and Nick Saban from 1992-95 spent the past year at Oregon in the same coaching role he returns to at MSU.

The 50-year-old Martin is the second former Spartan player to join the first-year MSU staff. Smith retained former Perles star Courtney Hawkins to coach wide receivers.

Martin has been coaching defensive backs at the college level since 2001, beginning his career at his hometown Pasadena City College in California. He served two seasons as a graduate assistant under Pete Carroll at USC from 2006-07, helping the Trojans to back-to-back Pac-10 titles and Rose Bowl victories.

From there, Martin spent three seasons at Washington (2009-11), six at UCLA (2012-17), two at Arizona (2018-19) and two at Colorado (2020-21) before his most recent two-year stint with the Ducks. He has worked with 18 All-Pac-12 defensive backs and has been on coaching staffs for 12 bowl games.

“Demetrice Martin brings a tremendous amount of experience to our staff,” Smith said in a statement. “He has developed players at the highest level, both on and off the field, throughout his entire career. As a former player here, I know he’s excited about coming back to East Lansing and being a part of this program once again.”

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Martin arrived at MSU as a wide receiver in 1992 and started five of his eight games as a true freshman, finishing with eight catches for 83 yards. He converted to cornerback in 1993, starting twice that season and finishing with 17 tackles.

In 1994, Martin blossomed into a first-team All-Big Ten cornerback in Perles’ final year, starting all 11 games and leading the conference with seven interceptions to go with 59 tackles and six pass break-ups. Martin had three interceptions and six PBUs with 48 tackles in his senior season under Saban in 1995.

Martin, who had an NFL stint on the St. Louis Rams’ practice squad, played professionally in NFL Europe and the Arena Football League between 1997-99. He earned his undergraduate degree in 2006 from Excelsior (N.Y.) College before his graduate work at USC.

Smith, who was hired by MSU on Nov. 25, completed his 10-member coaching staff with the hiring of Martin. Blue Adams, who followed Smith from Oregon State, will oversee the secondary along with Martin under defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. Rossi also will coach linebackers.

The Spartans’ other defensive assistants are Legi Suiaunoa (defensive line), and Chad Wilt (rush ends/co-special teams coordinator).

Hawkins will serve under new offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, who also will coach quarterbacks. Smith’s other offensive assistants are Keith Bhonapha (assistant head coach/running backs/co-special teams coordinator), Jim Michalczik (offensive line/run game coordinator), and Brian Wozniak (tight ends/recruiting coordinator).

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Michigan State football star Demetrice Martin returns to coach CBs