ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Jalen Reeves-Maybin spent the past four years in Tennessee. He played as a freshman and started the last three seasons before becoming a fourth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions last April.

So he understands Knoxville. He sees what's been happening the last two weeks at his alma mater and, well, he's not surprised.

"It's crazy," Reeves-Maybin told ESPN on Thursday. "When I was like a sophomore in college, though, I figured out that no matter what's going on, it's always going to be a crazy place like, no matter how high we were, no matter how low we were, I always knew there was always going to be a controversy around us.

"So once I accepted that, nothing surprised me. I know that's what it is."

This, though, has from the outside been a bit different since the Volunteers fired the coach he played for, Butch Jones, earlier this month. Tennessee's athletic director, John Currie, appeared to close in on Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano. Then fans and boosters got involved and eventually, the deal was off.

Since, Tennessee has been rebuffed by David Cutcliffe, Dave Doeren, Mike Gundy and Matt Campbell. Lions offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, a Tennessee alum, was asked about the job Thursday and while he wouldn't confirm or deny interest, a source told ESPN's Adam Rittenberg that Cooter isn't interested, either.

While Reeves-Maybin initially said he felt the Vols should get the "best coach," he also had a thought on at least one candidate who should get a look, a player-turned-coach with Tennessee ties and college experience.

"I'm not going to say this is the right choice but I would love to see Tee Martin be there," Reeves-Maybin said of Martin, currently the offensive coordinator at USC. "He did a lot for the university. He has a street named after him, won a national championship there. Been working up the coaching ladder, hasn't been back.

"I think he deserves a call or an opportunity. For them to go to so many people and his name not to come up at all, I think that's kind of crazy. But there's a lot of great coaches out there, not saying that he's just the best coach but I think he deserves a view."

Martin wouldn't be the first choice of Tennessee's leadership. That much, based on the search so far, is clear. But Reeves-Maybin was asked if this brouhaha at Tennessee now is at a different level than he has seen in the past; he said no.

Then he explained why, perhaps shedding light into how some Vols fans feel.

"They are tired. They want to win," Reeves-Maybin said. "We had a bad season this year after two promising, or two decent seasons the two years before and for it to fall off that fast was bad and I think kind of the old-time faithful fans want to see it get back to what it was.

"They also love having Tennessee people there so when it's not kind of, if you're not a Tennessee person at Tennessee, you kind of start off on the wrong foot at times. Not saying it's like that for everyone but when things get bad, they would love to have Tennessee people running the ship there."