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Two-way players are becoming college football’s new unicorns. Travis Hunter dazzled fans last season at Colorado on his way to Heisman glory, and now Vanderbilt’s Martel Hight is ready to follow that path in 2025. The talented defensive back isn’t just sticking to his normal role in the secondary — he’s expanding his game to wide receiver this fall.
Vandy’s coaching staff didn’t just wing it when preparing for this two-way experiment. They went straight to the source. Head coach Clark Lea revealed his staff picked the brain of Colorado’s Deion Sanders — who knows a thing or two about playing both ways from his own legendary career.
“Coach Kill has had conversations with Coach Prime at Colorado to talk about what their approach was,” Lea told CBS Sports‘ Richard Johnson at SEC Media Days. “We’ve spent time on it as a staff, too, just talking about ‘Hey, what does this look like for us?’ What’s most important to me is we have a guy that has the ability to tip the field — where is he going to make the biggest impact for us?”
Don’t expect to see Hight locked into a rigid snap count on either side of the ball.
The plan starts with a 50-50 split between offense and defense, but that’ll shift week-to-week based on matchups and where Hight can be most effective. It’s all about maximizing his playmaking ability without burning him out.
“We don’t want to run him into the ground, but we need him to impact winning,” Lea explained. “He can do it in all three phases, so we’re going to position him to do that.”
Hight’s already proven himself as a defensive weapon over his first two seasons in Nashville. He’s racked up 71 tackles and picked off three passes in 24 career games. What makes coaches believe he can handle more responsibility? Just look at what he did last season as Vandy’s punt returner — an SEC-best 14.7 yards per attempt with a touchdown on 18 returns.
Not Just Raw Talent
Adding receiver duties isn’t just about Hight’s natural athleticism. There’s technical work involved.
“He’s an established playmaker in the league,” said Lea. “What he did with the ball in his hand last year as a returner helped us win. It made a difference for us.”
But playing receiver requires more than just speed and hands.
“Playing receiver, though, is about more than just running routes and getting open. So there are finer technical points. We’ve taken the summer to really let him dedicate himself to that side of the ball, to learn the concepts, to build the rhythm and chemistry with our quarterbacks. It’s been fun to see him grow and develop.”
This isn’t completely foreign territory for Hight. At Rome High School in Georgia, he was a three-star prospect who played safety, cornerback, and wide receiver. He signed with Vanderbilt in 2023 as the nation’s 49th-ranked cornerback.
The Commodores are riding high after a 7-6 season that ended with a Birmingham Bowl victory over Georgia Tech. That win gave Vanderbilt its first bowl victory and winning record since 2013, when James Franklin was still patrolling the sidelines before heading to Penn State.
With Hight’s expanded role, the Commodores are hoping to build on that momentum in 2025.
