Josh Heupel's Comments Regarding Tennessee's Center Battle

Tennessee Volunteers center Cooper Mays is off to the draft, which leaves the position up for grabs. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel comments on the position battle going on early this spring.

Caleb Sisk | Mar 7, 2025

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel makes a face during a college football game between Tennessee and Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, November 16, 2024. / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Tennessee Volunteers

Tennessee Volunteers center Cooper Mays is off to the draft, which leaves the position up for grabs. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel comments on the position battle going on early this spring.

There are many position battles going on this spring for the Tennessee Volunteers. These positions are on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. One of the biggest battles going on in this camp is at the Center position.

William Satterwhite and Max Anderson are two names towards the top of that competition. Josh Heupel commented on the position and how it’s going early on into camp with the departure of longtime starter Cooper Mays.

“Command and control of what we’re doing offensively, understanding defensive structures, the ability to communicate at a really high level and get all five guys on the same page. That includes your tight ends and running backs, too. Coop(er) (Mays) has done a really good job for a really long time here. We were fortunate to have him for a while, but we got a lot of guys that we have great belief in. They've got to continue to grow as players, but a ton of competition at that position, as well. It’ll be multiple guys that are putting their hands on the ball and playing the center spot, but I think there’s really good competition at all the spots that we’re continuing to grow inside of that room.”