For the first time since Glen Elarbee has been in Knoxville he’s going through a fall camp and preparing for a football season without Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins as starters in the middle of the offensive line.
Elarbee has dealt with turnover in every other spot on almost a yearly basis, but those two had been constants up front and they had to a tremendous security blanket for a coach.
Now Elarbee is looking for four new offensive line starters to staff a front that’s going to be charged with protecting a brand new starter at quarterback.
“Coop, unbelievable just what he’s able to do mentally and physically. So yeah, it’s a big set of shoes to fill,” Elarbee said of moving on from Mays.
At this stage of camp Elarbee says that he’s still in the mindset of giving guys as many opportunities as possible, sometimes at different spots. That will change in the coming days as the staff focuses on identifying a starting five and getting stressing continuity with that group.
For now though, Elarbee wants the prevailing mindset on the practice field to be about competition, something his group has embraced.
Elarbee is giving them their chances, they have to earn it. Or as he says, ‘put it on tape.’
“Every team set, you try to move guys around a little bit and let them play and function together inside that team set, different lineups, different sides, give them a true chance to compete inside of that. And then the next team set will be a different group,” Elarbee said of his methodology.
“Then the next day, that kind of rotates around so they got a bunch of (run work), one day, a bunch of protection. But you give them the opportunity to go win it, and you put it in their hands. If it’s not on tape, can’t go start, or if you put it on tape, you get to go start.”
It’s a credit to Elarbee, Josh Heupel and the offensive staff that despite steady turnover (especially at running back) and inconsistent quarterback play at times, the Vols have consistently been one of the top rushing attacks in the SEC in the past four seasons.
Last fall Tennessee led the SEC in rushing by a wide margin at 225 yards per game. Texas A&M was a distant second at 195 per game.
Last year’s rushing attack was fueled by Dylan Sampson’s monster year, but Tennessee has run the ball successfully ever since Heupel has been calling the shots with a revolving door of backs and different combinations up front (outside of Spraggins and Mays).
Tennessee led the SEC in rushing in 2024 (204.8 ypg) and second in 2021 (217.8 ypg).
The Vols were 5th in the league in rushing in 2022, but that’s a bit misleading because they still rushed for 205 yards per game, the same total that led the SEC in 2024. Additionally, it’s worth nothing that 2022 unit was a record setting offense that averaged school records for total yardage (538 ypg) and points (47.3 ppg).
“You’ve got to play really, really hard. That’s what you’re always focusing on here at the beginning of camp. It doesn’t matter the position. ” Elarbee said of why Tennessee has been so consistent on the ground, indicating that there’s no ‘secrect sauce’.
“And then you’re trying to give yourself as many advantages of when it’s time to run the ball box-wise, you run it and when it isn’t (an advantage), you throw it. And typically it’s been working out.
“I’ll probably just credit to the guys that have been blocking, them running the ball, they’ve done a great job to be able to do what they’ve done.”
You’ll hear the phrase that Tennessee is ‘looking for four new offensive line starters’ to keep the offense humming a lot this month. The one spot that Elarbee isn’t worried about is at left tackle where Lance Heard is back for his second year manning the spot.
He arrived last offseason as one of the most heralded additions on the roster. A coveted transfer, Heard was former five-star offensive tackle prospect who had played in 12 games with a start as a true freshman for LSU in 2023.
Heard was expected to not just be a ‘plug-and-play’ starter for the Vols at left tackle, but a lynchpin of the offensive line.
He started 11 games for Tennessee last season and was productive, but it never felt like he was playing to his massive potential after missing significant time in camp following a clean up procedure on his knee.
The missed time with injury slowed Heard’s acclimation in camp and also hampered his offseason conditioning. He started the opener against NC State but then sat out the next two games to try and get to 100%.
This camp Heard looks like someone who attacked the offseason with a relish. He’s completely transformed his body and Elarbee all but rubbed his hands with glee today when talking about the strides Heard has made entering year two with the Vols.
“He’s changed his body. He’s done a great job, man,” Elarbee said.
Elarbee went on to joke that one unnamed offensive staffer mistook Heard for a ‘skinnier tackle’ earlier in camp.
Elarbee added that Heard hasn’t sacrificed any power as he’s trimmed up.
“He’s done such a much better job getting his weight under control,” he added. “Man, he’s lost weight but he ain’t lost an ounce of power and he’s way stronger. He’s redirecting better.
“His hands in pass pro are way better. Footwork, getting a base and being able to maintain blocks and great movement and play with violence. Credit to that guy, man, he’s done an unreal job. Really good job.”
Heard’s counterpart on the right side at tackle looks like it’s going to be a five-star of a more recent vintage.
David Sanders arrived on campus with as much hoopla as you’re likely to see surrounding a non-quarterback, and a big reason for that was the Vols’ apparent need at right tackle.
Sanders enrolled early in a quest to grab that starting spot as a true freshman, and his first assignment was to gain weight. He’s checked that box, putting on nearly 40 pounds to start camp at 305 pounds.
He’s done more than excel in the weight room. He’s also displayed the uncommon athleticism that made him such a coveted prospect along with the maturity that marked him as that rare freshman who might be able to handle the rigors of being a first year starter at this level.
So far Sanders hasn’t disappointed in the early days of his Tennessee career.
“The guy has done an incredible job of putting on weight and getting to a place where he can function here in the SEC,” Elarbee said of what Sanders has done to put himself in a position to play early. “Two, mentally he spent as much time or more time than anybody reading, walking through, and understanding that there’s still way, way more to keep going, but where he was to where he is now, unreal and credit to him.”
The mental approach is rare in a player Sanders’ age, but Elarbee is also seeing the kind of on field traits that are going to be necessary if Sanders is going to hold is own in the SEC as a freshman.
“Just technique wise, it’s so rewarding when you see him change something on a pass set or change something in the run game, technique wise, and it works,” Elarbee said of the quick progress Sandres is making.
“And the light clicks and then you get to go and move on to the next thing. And he just consistently, every day, ticking off something and just keeps building and climbing. Done a great job.”
