Tennessee football: Cade Mays denied eligibility; Vols will appeal

The NCAA denied the Tennessee football Volunteers transfer offensive lineman his eligibility waiver request.

As of right now, at least, Tennessee football will have to play the 2020 season without Georgia Bulldogs transfer Cade Mays. Once a five-star recruit, Mays transferred to UT after two years in Athens and requested an immediate eligibility waiver.

According to Patrick Brown of GoVols247, Jeremy Pruitt reported in his zoom press conference after the first day of fall camp that Mays’ eligibility request was denied and that the Vols plan to appeal. If their appeal is rejected, Mays will have to sit out this season and take a redshirt.

Pruitt did not hide his displeasure with the NCAA’s decision, noting that it is frustrating for him and Mays. Here’s a bit of what the third-year Tennessee football head coach said about the situation, according to Brown’s report.

"“The circumstances surrounding him and his family is something that he had no control over. When you look at a young man once he transfers, going through the process of how is he going to be eligible, there’s a lot that goes into that. He’s sitting there with this case looming. Does that affect where he’s at on the depth chart? Does that affect anything that goes on around him? It’s an unusual circumstance.”"

A legacy player and local talent who came out of Knoxville Catholic High School, Mays is the son of Kevin Mays, who was an offensive lineman under Phillip Fulmer in the early 1990s. He was initially committed to the Vols back in 2017, but the disaster that was happening under Butch Jones enticed him to flip and instead join what Kirby Smart was building with the UGA Dawgs.

At 6’6″ 318 pounds, Mays was a Freshman All-American in 2018 and a regular starter at a variety of positions in 2019. However, his younger brother, four-star Cooper Mays, committed to Jeremy Pruitt in the 2020 class, and his father has been locked in a lawsuit with UGA over an injury he suffered at an event back in 2017.

Amidst all of that, he made his decision to return to Knoxville. Fans expected Mays to start on the inside along with Trey Smith and Brandon Kennedy, making for an elite interior line. Without him, however, Pruitt has some things to figure out with Will Friend and Jim Chaney.

K’Rojhn Calbert is the most proven at guard, and Riley Locklear is the most experienced. Both could fill those roles, and Jahmir Johnson and Jerome Carvin have also played numerous spots on the line. There are also plenty of freshman with tons of potential. Simply put, Tennessee football has options, but if Mays’ appeal is denied, they’ll have to figure those options out.