Offensive lineman William Satterwhite spent the first two seasons of his college career with the Tennessee Vols before entering the transfer portal earlier this offseason.

Satterwhite played 188 snaps for the Volunteers as a redshirt freshman last season while operating as a backup center behind starter Sam Pendleton (who is set to return to UT this fall).

The former four-star recruit landed with the LSU Tigers out of the portal.

Satterwhite, however, didn’t leave Tennessee for a guaranteed starting job.

Nola.com’s Reed Darcey’s post-spring depth chart projection for LSU has redshirt senior Braelin Moore listed as the starting center with Satterwhite as the top backup.

“Moore passed on the NFL draft so he could spend one more season as the starting center,” wrote Darcey of LSU’s center competition. “He’ll solidify things for the Tigers on the interior of the offensive line. Satterwhite, a Tennessee transfer, has experience at center, so we’ll put him here for now, even though he was not spotted at the last six spring practices open to reporters.”

Why did William Satterwhite transfer to LSU if he’s not going to start?

Losing Satterwhite certainly hurt the Vols’ offensive line depth — especially since he saw a decent amount of action last season.

But the fact that Satterwhite transferred to a situation where it was clear he’s going to be the backup tells us there’s a good chance he was going to be the No. 3 option at center for the Vols had he returned to UT for the 2026 season.

The Vols also lost center Max Anderson to the transfer portal this offseason.

Anderson, who was a redshirt freshman at Tennessee last season, transferred to Kentucky. And interestingly, he’s also projected to serve in a backup role behind a returning senior.

With Satterwhite and Anderson no longer on the roster, it’s redshirt freshman Nic Moore, who played just 18 snaps as a true freshman last season, who is poised to serve as Tennessee’s top backup center.

Considering the situations that Satterwhite and Anderson left for, I think it’s fair to surmise that Tennessee’s staff likes Moore a lot. Satterwhite and Anderson likely saw the writing on the wall, realized that Moore was well-positioned to be the No. 2 center, and then decided to hit the portal.

“Nic [is] super talented,” said Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee in March. “He’s done a great job. So much more consistent. Again, everything’s just slowed down for him. He’s powerful. In the run game, he can create movement. He can anchor. He’s done a great job. He’s had to take a few more reps this spring, but he’s done a good job with it.”

I’d say that two centers leaving to be backup centers elsewhere should make Vols fans feel pretty good about Moore serving as the top backup option to Pendleton this fall.