2025 will be the first season of the Josh Heupel era at Tennessee that Cooper Mays won’t enter the season as the program’s starting center.

Mays, who spent five seasons with the Vols, is off to the NFL after exhausting his eligibility.

The center position is obviously extremely important in any offense, but it’s even more important in Heupel’s offense. The center is responsible for identifying different defensive fronts in Heupel’s up-tempo offense and making sure the protections are correct.

If the center isn’t right, the whole play will likely be doomed from the snap.

The good news for the Vols is that it sounds like Tennessee already knows who their starting center will be.

Now, it’s still early in spring practice, and the coaches aren’t naming any new starters in the second week of March, but comments on Tuesday from offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and quarterback Nico Iamaleava certainly make it sound like redshirt freshman William Satterwhite is going to operate as UT’s starting center in 2025.

“With Sat, the big thing for him is just the size and strength of going from a freshman offensive lineman to now you’re in your second year in the program and going and holding up for 17 weeks in an SEC schedule,” said Halzle on Wednesday when asked about Satterwhite. “So that’s first and foremost with the guys up front is they have to be able to physically not just survive, but physically dominate up front for 17 weeks.

“What gives you a ton of confidence about him is that he’s a highly, highly intelligent guy. He was a guy that from the time he got here, knew the calls, knew where he was supposed to go, could make the adjustments. It didn’t seem like he was a true freshman out there mentally. And now that his physicality is matching up to that, we’re excited about what he could do replacing a guy like Cooper Mays out there at that position where you couldn’t show Coop something he hadn’t seen before. Now, he (Satterwhite) hasn’t played that much ball, so I’m not saying it’s the same thing, but you feel like he can get himself in that same place.”

Iamaleava told reporters that he already has a great rapport with Satterwhite.

“Coop was one of the best to do it,” said Iamaleava. “Sat’s taking on that role. And I can’t wait to see Sat play. I think he’s been a great piece for us — even last year, you know, just coming in as a freshman, taking a lot of reps in practice. So I’ve always had a good rapport with Sat.”

There’s still a lot of practice time left before the start of the 2025 season, so plenty can change (especially if there are any injuries), but it definitely sounds like this is Satterwhite’s job to lose.

Satterwhite, a former four-star recruit from Akron, OH, was rated as the No. 12 interior offensive lineman in the 2024 recruiting class. He didn’t see much action last season while playing behind Mays, earning just 45 snaps as a true freshman.

Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton, who arrived at Tennessee in January, told reporters on Wednesday that he’s taking snaps at center and right guard during spring practice. Pendleton, who practiced some at center during his time at Notre Dame, could end up being the Volunteers’ top backup option at center while operating as the starting right guard — though, again, that could certainly change before the start of the season.