As the sweltering September heat radiated across Christ Presbyterian Academy’s football field, Wright Martin did his best to squint through the sunshine, standing straight-faced as a camera snapped away in his direction.
It was a long day for Martin. He woke up hours before the sun had risen to hit the field in time for 6 a.m. practice with the Lions, which was followed by a full day of classes and a film session to cap off the afternoon.
So perhaps he could be forgiven for not cracking a smile.
His father, CPA football coach Ingle Martin, wasn’t cutting him any slack.
“Why are you mean mugging right now?” Ingle joked, posing next to his son.
With the day’s practices and film study complete, Wright and Ingle are in father-son mode, but they know
how to flip a switch on the field. Lighting the way along a path he once walked, Ingle has seen his son develop into one of the state’s top tight ends, with nearly a dozen Power Four programs now seeking his commitment.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Martin is ranked as the Class of 2028’s No. 25 tight end in the 247Sports Composite, holding offers from Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Virginia Tech and more.
With college football on the horizon, Wright’s found himself leaning on his father’s experience more than ever before.
“Having been able to see it and live it myself, it (takes) a different level of commitment and desire,” Ingle Martin said. “Especially playing a position like tight end, you have to enjoy doing the work that doesn’t get the applause."
“That’s going to be his role, and so I think being a coach’s kid, he knows that there’s no glitz and glam."
3-star Wright Martin was raised in a winning household
From every corner of his family Wright Martin has seen athletic success.
His grandfather and namesake, Mike Wright, is a Nashville area legend who played football and baseball at Father Ryan, then at Vanderbilt before being drafted in both the NFL and MLB. Wright’s mother, Jennifer, was a star pitcher at Ezell-Harding, winning five straight softball state championships (1997-2001) before attending Alabama, where she made two Women's College World Series appearances.
Jennifer’s brother-in-law Matt Freije, Wright’s uncle, is a former Vanderbilt basketball standout, elected to the Commodores Hall of Fame in 2017.
Then there’s his father, Ingle, who was a star quarterback at MBA, leading the Big Red to three TSSAA football state championships and 32 straight wins. Ingle went on to play at Florida before transferring to Furman and was selected in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.
“He’s a student of it. Him being a coach’s son, he knows the sport really well … I think he did even early on,” Mike Wright said about his grandson. “That’s just what our family does. I think he listened to us even during tee-ball, the whole bit.”
With familial success across multiple sports, there was no way Wright Martin would be limited to just football. Following after his mother, he’s a standout first baseman with CPA, which claimed the DII-AA state title this past May.
"What's been cool for all our kids is, none of (us played) the same sport," Jennifer Martin said. "So our kids have definitely grown up playing all the sports and having people that can give good advice in each one of them."
He’s never shied away from tapping into his family’s experience, whether on the football field or the baseball diamond, but purposefully so, Ingle has taken a backseat in his development at tight end.
How Ingle Martin is preparing Wright for next level
Ingle’s always been there to point his son in the right direction, but he’s left Wright’s development to his assistant coaches. That is until recent months, in which Wright has laser focused on goals of success at the next level.
Knowing the level of effort such success requires, Ingle has made a priority of preparing Wright for the challenges of the college game, preparations which Wright embraced.
“He was the one leading it, which was the best part. I told him all you’ve got to do is say the word and I’ll do everything I can … I’ll help you as much as I can,” Ingle Martin said. “You really want your kid to set out on his own path and his own journey. Not feel like, ‘Oh I got to do this.’
"I’m a football coach. Played college football and played pro football. Football is really hard. So if you do it, it better be because you want to do it, not because someone else wants you to.”
Wright has his opportunities to play baseball at the next level, but through his summer recruitment, he believes football chose him. Now he’s on the same trajectory of his father.
“I remember coming to practice, coming to games and being the water boy or sideline boy. Some of the best parts (are) just watching film at home, staying extra (at practice)," Wright Martin said. "It makes it easier to do that stuff, but also builds a better relationship with my dad, spending more time with him.
“A lot of kids come here and that’s time away from their parents, but I feel like it just helps us build our relationship even better off the field.”
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports for The Daily Herald and The Tennessean. Email him at hcampbell@usatodayco.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: His mom, dad and grandfather were Nashville legends. Is CPA's Wright Martin next?
