‘To me, that was a hint’ – Vols insider shares update on Tennessee’s most important non-QB position battle

All eyes are on the Tennessee Vols’ starting quarterback battle in fall camp between UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre. The quarterback battle, however, is far from the only important position battle happening in fall camp for the Volunteers. Tennessee is also looking for a new starting center […]

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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All eyes are on the Tennessee Vols’ starting quarterback battle in fall camp between UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre.

The quarterback battle, however, is far from the only important position battle happening in fall camp for the Volunteers.

Tennessee is also looking for a new starting center with Cooper Mays no longer on the roster after exhausting his college eligibility.

Aside from a few games when Mays was out with injury, Tennessee hasn’t had another starting center during the Josh Heupel era.

The Vols’ starting center battle appears to be between Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton and redshirt freshman William Satterwhite.

Adam Sparks of The Knoxville News Sentinel joined 104.5 The Zone’s The Buck Reising Show on Thursday and he pointed out that Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee may have given a hint this week about where the center battle stands.

“At center, it’s going to be Sam Pendleton, the Notre Dame transfer, or it’s going to be William Satterwhite, the redshirt freshman,” explained Sparks. “I would lean a little towards Sam Pendleton. I mean, Satterwhite started with the ones at the beginning of camp. But it’s a funny thing, I asked Glen Elarbee, the O-line coach, the other day about how much, after all of the snapping, and blocking, and IDing [defensive fronts] and all those sort of things that go into center, like after that, how important are the intangibles of the position — the leadership, the reliability, all these sort of things. And he said the intangibles are a big part of it. And to me, that was a hint that Sam Pendleton is in the lead right now.

“Sam Pendleton feels like a Cooper Mays. He feels like a Glen Elarbee type guy. I mean, Sam Pendleton was on campus for less than a month, I’d say, and he was already sort of leading that room. And there’s just a lot to that, and that body language. It also makes it a little easier to start Pendleton at center because they love Jesse Perry…Jesse Perry, they love him at right guard. If he can play there, then they have the option to have Pendleton at center. If they put Pendleton at guard, then they’ll have to be confident in Satterwhite (at center). It’s still an open competition at center, but Jesse Perry being really good at right guard, I think, opens up more options.”

Elarbee certainly sounded high on Pendleton when he spoke to reporters earlier this week.

“He’s the ultimate O-line guy,” said Elarbee when asked about Pendleton. “A guy’s guy [who] wants everybody hanging out outside of the field. Wants to be physical, wants to stay in the game technique wise. Wants to take incredible notes and like just be an offensive lineman. I think that’s sometimes few and far between. Find somebody that enjoys the grind, enjoys the pain [and] that shows up every day at practice and then does it with a smile on his face and encourages guys. That’s pretty special.”

It won’t matter who Tennessee’s starting quarterback is if the offensive line can’t protect him. Finding the Vols’ starting center might end up being the most important decision Tennessee makes during fall camp, even if it’s not the decision that generates the most headlines.

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