The position battles getting the most attention in Tennessee Vols fall camp are obviously at quarterback, right tackle, and the No. 3 wide receiver job.

There’s another position battle brewing, however, that is pretty important.

Senior Sam Pendleton will enter the season as the Vols’ starting center, but he will have to perform well to hold onto that job.

And that’s because redshirt freshman Nic Moore is pushing hard to be a starter.

“He’s a snap away, so he knows it,” said Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee when asked about Moore on Tuesday. “And he’s talented enough to honestly push — he’s got plenty of talent to go push to try to start. So, I do think his mindset is different.”

“I think he’s just such a powerful guy. … he’s got great natural leverage because of his height, which is beneficial inside,” added Elarbee. “But he’s super strong. He has great flex. He’s done a great job trying to bring his snaps in. You can tell that’s been a focus for him. And he likes physicality. He’s got to continue to grow and learn — his diet off the field, what that looks like, what real strain in the weight room looks like. But as far as football goes, he’s taken a tremendous stride. And his first two days, he’s putting guys six or seven yards off the line of scrimmage. It’s awesome to see.”

Pendleton, who played through various injuries last season, will almost certainly be the starter when the Vols take the field for the season-opener against Furman. One reason is because Tennessee will have a first-time starter at quarterback.

“I think he’s got to step up,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will in July of Pendleton. “Now, he played a lot of last year injured. I’m telling you, he was beat up bad. He gutted it out and toughed it out. But he’s got to try to stay healthy this year. I think they need him to be good.

“Listen, Nic Moore is the guy behind him. They really like Nic Moore. I think if you had an older quarterback, Nic Moore, the option there (to start) may be even greater than it is. Can you really roll into a year with an inexperienced quarterback and an inexperienced center? I think you need Pendleton to be good. Now, I don’t think they’ll blink — if Pendleton struggles, Nic Moore’s got a real shot to step in there and help this football team at the center spot. But I think you need the older veteran guy to help a younger quarterback, in my opinion.”

It’s not all bad for Sam Pendleton

Elarbee had positive things to say about Pendleton on Tuesday, too.

“Any time you’re banged up it makes it a little bit tougher, but he’s a fighter,” said Elarbee. “He didn’t want to come out. He wanted to push through it. That’s what an offensive lineman should be. I think he’s kind of accepted wanting to be a really physical guy at practice and set that mentality.

“I try to piss him off as much as I can every day and make him think he’s not physical, but he really is. He does try to play physically. He’s pretty gifted. He’s so strong. He can do some things and make things look easy that really shouldn’t look easy. He’s continuing to try to take that leadership role in the huddle in telling the situation that we got. Is it a third down, two-minute? What are we looking for? Is this a tempo drive? Is it red zone? He’s been really good.”

This is a great situation for Tennessee. For the first few years of the Josh Heupel era, the Vols had Cooper Mays at center and essentially no depth behind him. The lack of depth showed up when Mays missed extended time to start the 2023 season.

Now, Tennessee finally has quality depth at one of the most important positions on the field — no one touches the ball more than the center — and that’s massive. The Vols are protected in case of injury, and the competition ensures that neither player will get complacent this fall.