Need another reason to have nothing but love for veteran Tennessee football center Cooper Mays? Well, it has arrived via a great Signing Day story. Head man Josh Heupel and his staff just announced a loaded 2025 class, with four-star lineman Nic Moore making things official on Wednesday.
Moore is fired up to make his way to town and he'll arrive in Knoxville already looking up to Mays. Why, you ask? Because as it turns out, Moore connected with Mays via text when he was going through some tough times during his senior year. Mays gave him some fantastic advice, which helped the youngster power through. This is another example of why Mays is such a great leader for this team:
When Nic Moore (@nica48188) committed to the #Vols over the summer, he told me current Tennessee center Cooper Mays (@CooperMays) was someone he looked up to.
— Casey Kay (@caseykaytv) December 4, 2024
Now, he's someone Moore was actually able to lean on during his final season of HS football when he hit a rough patch. pic.twitter.com/wx5POamqB6
Tennessee OL Cooper Mays was there for Nic Moore when he needed him
"I have gotten to talk to Cooper Mays a few times during the season," Moore said via reporter Casey Kay. "I was kind of at a rough spot in my career and I texted him, 'Hey, how do you handle all of this stuff - like, what do you do?' and he pretty much told me, 'Take care of the thing that's in front of you first and put all your energy that way, because if you put all of your energy in five different places, you're not going to get better at any of them.' That piece of advice has gotten me through a lot so far and I feel like I've gotten so much better just off of hearing that alone."
Mays is in his last campaign with the Vols and there's no question this fanbase is going to miss him quite a bit. He had been through some lean years with the team, but now the Vols are in the Top 10 and headed to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.
The senior class indeed has been through a lot, but as Mays said, they've left the program in a better place than where things were when they got here. With Moore on his way to town in '25, Mays is ready to see the interior lineman keep the strong play for UT going. The fact that Moore was able to depend on him for words of wisdom is great, and it shows just how much the Vols mean to Mays. What a guy.