Josh Heupel addresses Cooper Mays' availibility for season opener

The Volunteers might not be at full strength in their season opener. On Monday, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel revealed the status of center Cooper Mays.

“We’ll find out here as the week goes on on his availability in this one,” Heupel said. “We’ve had two and a half, three weeks of different guys having the opportunity to play on the interior if he’s not ready to go. I feel really confident in those guys.”

Mays underwent a minor procedure earlier this month. His absence will be a significant loss for Tennessee’s front five. In three seasons at UT, Mays has appeared in 31 contests, starting in 23 of them. On a ridiculous 1,544 career offensive snaps, Mays has allowed just four sacks.

For his fantastic efforts, Mays was named to the 2023 Preseason All-SEC third team by the media and conference coaches this summer. Mays boasts 19 consecutive starts for the Vols. While Heupel’s comments on Monday weren’t exactly reassuring, the 45-year-old head coach was much more optimistic on May’s condition earlier this month.

“We believe we’ll have an opportunity to have him back,” said Heupel. “Everything’s gone well since he missed training camp and had the issue that he had, but at the same time, and it’s true for every position, but in particular the offensive line, you’ve better have contingency plans.

“You don’t know when that’s going to happen. A guy gets an ankle [injury]. You guys have seen that since we’ve been here. So every week you’ve got to understand where you’re at going into the game, how you want to manage it and play those guys if you’re healthy, but if something happens to one of those five guys, somebody gets nicked up, who’s the next in? How are you shuffling your front five if in particular your center goes down? So those are things that you work through every training camp, and throughout the course of the season.”

An offense is only as good as its front five, and Tennessee’s offense was fantastic last season. In 2022, the Volunteers led the nation with 78 touchdowns while averaging 7.23 yards per play.

Whenever Mays returns, he will certainly resume his position. Tennessee’s depth chart released Monday had Mays listed as the starting center with redshirt seniors Ollie Lane and Dayne Davis as the backup options at the position.

With or without Mays, Tennessee will kick off its 2023 campaign against Virginia on Sept. 2.