KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One of Tennessee football’s most experienced position rooms was highlighted on Monday as UT wrapped up Practice No. 5 of preseason training camp. Offensive line coach Glen Elarbee and a trio of veteran, in-state O-line contributors spoke to media after Monday’s session on Haslam Field to break down the group’s development in the trenches.
Tennessee enters the 2024 campaign with one of the most veteran offensive lines in the country and returns three full-time starters from last season. The room has combined for 284 games played and 113 starts, ranking second and 12th in the FBS, respectively.
Elarbee discussed the impact that experience has on the young offensive lineman and labeled his veterans as ‘coaches’ on the field during fall camp.
“It’s a super veteran crew,” Elarbee said. “There are guys that have played a lot of football. You just go across the board; (Dayne Davis) is a coach on the field. (John Campbell Jr.) is a coach on the field. (Cooper Mays) is always a coach on the field. (Javontez Spraggins), coach on the field. (Andrej Karic) in his second year has become a great coach on the field. They know it so well, and they’re helping bring those young guys along.”
A preseason first team All-America and All-SEC selection, Cooper Mays provides continuity for the offense as he enters his fourth straight season as the starting center. The Kingston native was available to media on Monday and spoke about his connection with redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava heading into his fifth season with the program.
“Nico is so mature for his age,” Mays said. “He’s a younger guy, but he doesn’t act like that … We just have to be really communicative. Kind of the whole offense in general, but especially with me and the quarterback, you have to talk a lot and kind of pick each other’s brain. He tries to see how I’m seeing things and I’m trying to see how he sees things. So, just trying to get on the same page there has been really cool.”
Full comments from Elarbee and select quotes from Mays, redshirt senior offensive lineman Dayne Davis and redshirt senior offensive lineman Jackson Lampley can be viewed below.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Aug. 5, 2024
Offensive Line Coach Glen Elarbee
On how much better the depth is on the offensive line…
“So much better. Especially this spring where so many young guys got reps, and then you get all of the older guys back. One, it helps you with your older guys. You can plug in young guys and get them reps and the team doesn’t suffer. They can function. They can go and do the job, and it helps them continue to grow. Them moving up helps guys that have just gotten here like Bennett Warren and Lance Heard. Those kinds of guys still get reps, and it just makes life a lot easier, for sure.”
On if this is the most veteran-filled group he’s been around and how he’s seen them help the younger guys…
“It’s a super veteran crew. There are guys that have played a lot of football. You just go across the board; (Dayne Davis) is a coach on the field, (John Campbell Jr.) is a coach on the field, Coop (Cooper Mays) is always a coach on the field, Spraggs (Javontez Spraggins), coach on the field. Dre (Andrej Karic) in his second year has become a great coach on the field. They know it so well, and they’re helping bring those young guys along.”
On how much easier it is to operate with quality depth at the tackle position…
“Because those guys have gotten reps and having the depth, it helps not only us, but it helps the team. You can practice and put guys out there when you don’t need to necessarily rep that guy and you can still continue to go and function. It will help us when we get to the fall, hopefully you’re rotating guys, preparing them for the next year and also helping guys last for what is hopefully a very long season.”
On having former offensive lineman Parker Ball on staff…
“He’s the smartest guy in this building. Last year – love him as a player – (but) he was already a coach in the making. He got with (John Campbell Jr.) every Friday and studied tips. He’s just picked up where he’s left off. One, he’s been in it for three years, so he knows it inside and out. He’s the freakiest, smartest human being walking the planet. He keeps me correct. We’ll be sitting in the meeting room, I can just hear him go (imitates cough and sniff sound). That’s your Parker noise, and I’ll know I misspoke, and I’ll correct it, and if I don’t, he’ll jump my button and get me corrected. He’s awesome man. He’s going to be a way better coach than I ever could have been.”
On finding a second center behind Cooper Mays…
“It’s awesome. It’s a great competition. (Vysen Lang) and Satt (William Satterwhite) probably are taking most of those reps and competing. Satter has come along at a high rate. Vysen has improved in a ton of areas. Max Anderson and Jesse Perry have also taken some center reps. You always have (Dayne Davis) if a bomb went off. He did it last year if he had to. But, we’re doing a bunch of different guys. We’re on day five of camp and have two more weeks. Let the competition sort itself out.”
On John Campbell Jr. on the right side of the offensive line…
“Really good. You can tell he put in a ton of work this offseason. When we were on break, he’s always sending me videos of him doing work, getting sets (and) asking for critiques. He’s a meticulous note taker. He has, in my opinion, looked flawless. He’s done a phenomenal job, and all of that credit is due to him.”
On who is working at left guard and if he likes one starter or multiple players to be able to play …
“I think you always let the competition sort itself out. (Andrej Karic) has worked left guard. (Dayne Davis) has worked left guard. Lamp (Jackson Lampley) has worked left guard. Sham (Shamurad Umarov) is working left guard. Even BG (Brian Grant) has bounced in there. We are kind of moving guys around day-to-day. At the end of day, whoever is the best, that guy is going to play and then we are going to have to play somebody behind him. It’s going to be a long year. Coach Heupel is making an emphasis on us rotating, so I’m trying to make that point in the way we practice that guys are rotating in and taking a lot of reps with ones and twos.”
On how to manage workload for a veteran group and how comfortable he is rotating players in game situations …
“One, every practice we have a rep plan for exactly the number of reps guys are getting. There are some drills that I know I probably don’t need to get Coop (Cooper Mays) into. There are other things where it’s tempo or third downs, and I know he does need to be in there. Same thing with a John Campbell Jr., a Spraggs (Javontez Spraggins), older guys. Their bodies have been playing for a long time. You give them the reps they need and then, again, having the depth helps so that we can go and play guys. As far as rotating goes, if you’re relatively equal, I love the rotation because it keeps guys fresh. The only time you get nervous is when you have a drop-off when you put a guy in. With this bunch, I feel like we’re far along.”
On guys deciding to stay another year in college rather than move on…
“I think it speaks to who we are in the room. One, we talk about it all the time, there’s stuff outside football that we talk about. There are things in life. We were in there after chapel the other day, and I was telling them, ‘I know I don’t say it enough, but I love every single one of you in here.’ I think there’s a family in that room and they enjoy being in it. It’s a healthy (and) fun environment. When it’s time to get to work, by gosh it has to happen, but we enjoy playing the game too. They all want to win a championship. They want to go do that and they want to go compete.”
On if having to face the defensive line each day in practice has helped…
“For sure. Iron sharpens iron. I feel like we’ve gotten better. They’ve also have taken steps. It’s a great defensive line. You get to go against those guys every day in one-on-one pass rush, or any drill honestly, it helps you grow. I do think our young guys have taken big steps. Now getting some of the vet guys back, that’s going to help prepare them to be ready to roll in the season.”
Senior OL Cooper Mays
On what it has been like having a quarterback who is younger than him…
“I have been thinking about it a little bit, but it is kind of hard to think though because (Nico Iamaleava) is so mature for his age. He’s a younger guy, but he doesn’t act like that. Like you said, I have had guys that weren’t just mature, they were 24 or 25 years old, like older guys. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. Just got to be really communicative. Kind of the whole offense in general, but especially with me and the quarterback, you have to talk a lot and kind of pick each other’s brain. He tries to see how I’m seeing things and I’m trying to see how he sees things. So, just trying to get on the same page there has been really cool.”
On if this has been the most veteran group of offensive linemen he has been around…
“Probably. I’m not sure exactly the numbers or anything. Maybe I have been on one that is older earlier in my career, but it has been really, really cool seeing guys develop. Kind of like I said with the d-line, there has been guys added from the transfer portal that are here now with significant roles and there are also guys that have been here the whole time like me and Spraggs (Javontez Spraggins) that have gone here and developed the whole way through. So, it has been really cool to see everybody mix together and make one unit.”
On how much better he feels going into this year after battling an injury early last season…
“A lot, just really it’s the mental thing, knowing that I feel good and knowing I’m 100 percent. Yeah, I feel really good.”
RS-Senior OL Dayne Davis
On what position on the offensive line is he spending the most time at right now…
“So far in fall camp, three or four. We will hit that five mark eventually I would assume. Just working everywhere, priding myself in versatility, you know left tackle, right tackle, left guard, center, everywhere. Just having the versatility to go anywhere.”
On how taxing it is mentally to play multiple positions on the offensive line…
“It is at times for me, talking myself into knowing the offense. It’s not really mentally taxing. Sometimes it does get physically taxing just having to switch up your technique up, fundamentals and stuff. Footwork is completely different at both (sides). There are completely different players at all of those too on the other side (defensive line). Inside you got Big O (Omari Thomas) and you got Big E (Elijah Simmons) and then outside you got going against (James Pearce Jr.), Joshua Josephs and those guys, so sometimes it does get physically tough.”
RS-Senior OL Jackson Lampley
On if starting and playing well at the end of last season played a role in his decision to come back for another year…
“You know, that was part of it, for sure, just to be able to go out there and start and have a positive impact. I think that was a big reason why I decided to come back. The other reason why I really decided to come back was the guys in the locker room, you know? They’ll always have a special place in my heart. And same here as at the University of Tennessee. I mean, this school has done a lot for me throughout my entire life So I think those two factors were really why I decided to come back.”
On working at the left guard position…
“Yeah, just being consistent. Playing the way I typically play, especially the run game and also the pass game. Just being able to move people, but also playing smart. I think those two things are really going to help me.”
On his relationship with the coaching staff…
“It’s great. Coach (Glen Elarbee) and I have a great relationship. Coach (Josh Heupel) and I also have a great relationship. To speak volumes about Coach Heupel, the day my grandfather died, he called me and my family and was just devastated that it happened, and (he) really cares about me as well as my family. He also cares about everybody else on this team. I mean, he’s the perfect guy you could have as a head coach.”
