UCLA’s secondary was one of the few bright spots in a rough season, and the Bruins got a major win by keeping safety Cole Martin in Westwood.
Martin comes in at No. 11 on the Bruins’ top 30 players list, and the resume behind that ranking is already loaded. He has built himself into one of the better safeties in the Big Ten, and UCLA saw that up close last season when he started all 12 games and gave the defense a steady presence in the back end.
His path to this point has been anything but simple. At Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, Martin first made his name as a four-star prospect by stuffing stat sheets and piling up production.
As a freshman, he posted 38 total tackles, 27 solo tackles, five pass deflections and an interception. The next year, he took another jump with 39 total tackles, 34 solo tackles, 12 pass deflections and two interceptions.
After two seasons with the Huskies, Martin helped push the program into one of the top spots in the division before transferring to another school in the same division after a coach used a racial slur. At Basha High School, he shifted into more of a tackling role and still made a major impact. He finished with 67 total tackles, 25 solo tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss, while also helping the Bears win a regional championship.
His senior year was the one that really put him on the map. Martin piled up 84 tackles, 40 solo tackles, one tackle for a loss, an interception, two forced fumbles and 14 pass deflections. He also earned All-America honors as part of the All-American Bowl, was named a first-team all-region defensive back, helped lead Basha to an 11-1 record and a state championship, and finished with the Bears ranked 18th in the country.
That production turned him into a heavily recruited prospect. Martin climbed to four-star status and was rated the 247th player in the 2023 high school class, the 29th-ranked cornerback and the fourth-ranked player in Arizona. Alabama, Tennessee, USC, Florida, Florida State and Georgia were among the schools in the mix, but he ultimately committed to Oregon.
Martin was part of a loaded 2023 Oregon class that ranked ninth nationally and also included Matayo Uiagalelei, Kenyon Sadiq and UCLA cornerback Rodrick Pleasant. As a freshman, Martin played in all 14 games and finished with 21 total tackles, 13 solo tackles, an interception against Arizona State and two pass deflections. That Arizona State game was his best of the season, with five tackles and the pick.
Even after that strong debut, Martin never locked down a starting job at Oregon, and with no starting role guaranteed for the next year, he entered the transfer portal and landed at Arizona State with former Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham. His start there was promising - four solo tackles and a pass breakup - but a hip injury ended his season early. Martin remained with the Sun Devils as they won the Big 12 Conference Championship and nearly upset Texas in the College Football Playoff.
He entered the portal again and chose UCLA, where he became a key part of Deshaun Foster’s transfer class. Foster was trying to build on a 5-7 season and get the Bruins back to a bowl game, and Martin was supposed to be one of the players helping make that happen. Instead, UCLA stumbled badly, Foster lost his job after the first three games, and Martin ended up being one of the few consistent positives during the chaos.
Martin’s first season at UCLA was productive from start to finish. He started every game at safety and was one of only three defensive players to start all 12. He ranked fourth on the team with 65 total tackles, including 31 solo tackles, and added 3.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and an interception.
With UCLA’s season ending at 3-9 and the coaching situation in flux, Martin entered the transfer portal again. But after Bob Chesney was hired, the two sides talked, and Martin stayed put.
"Coach Chesney came in, and we had a conversation with him," Martin recalled. "We all got with each other afterwards and were like, 'He's different.' Being able to have that conversation and be genuine with your brothers that you went through a hard season with and now you've got a coach that is trying to change the whole trajectory, you've got to believe in somebody, and he's somebody you can believe in."
Now Martin is set to be one of the Bruins’ leaders, a proven defender expected to help bring the new transfers along and handle the physical demands of the Big Ten. His return gives UCLA a real anchor in the secondary, and his coverage ability is a big reason that group can be one of the best in the conference.
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