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Tennessee football: 10 major revelations from Vols start of spring practice

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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7. Early enrollee offensive lineman Cooper Mays will miss the spring due to injury.

Obviously, Cooper Mays brings a name with him to Tennessee football. Standing at 6’3″ 290 pounds, the four-star offensive lineman in UT’s 2020 recruiting class brings more depth to the center position as an early enrollee. He is the son of Vol legend Kevin Mays and the brother of Cade Mays, a five-star offensive linemen in the 2017 recruiting class.

Cade Mays was committed to Rocky Top in 2017, but he decommitted during the Butch Jones fiasco and went to the Georgia Bulldogs. Now, though, with Kevin mays locked in a lawsuit with UGA over an injury he suffered, Cade Mays has transferred back to UT to play with his brother and continue his father’s legacy. Amidst all that, Cooper Mays is a big deal.

However, it looks like Cooper Mays won’t be ready to go in the spring. According to Jeremy Pruitt, he broke his foot in the fall and will have to miss the spring. Despite the Vols’ depth on the offensive line, this is a big deal, as they need another guy to be in the rotation at center behind sixth-year senior Brandon Kennedy.

Last year, Jerome Carvin had that role, and Ryan Johnson started there during Kennedy’s season-ending injury in 2018. But Johnson is now gone, and Carvin belongs elsewhere on the line. As a result, Pruitt, Will Friend and Jim Chaney have work to do up front, and Mays was supposed to help them with that. His absence will be a big deal.

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