Comments from Tennessee Vols assistant coach should alleviate a major concern that fans have about the program

The Tennessee Vols don't have a lot of concerns entering the 2024 season thanks to the team's much-improved depth.

Perhaps the biggest concern/question that Tennessee faces ahead of the 2024 season has to do with the backup center position.

Starting center Cooper Mays is entering his final season at Tennessee. It goes without saying that Mays has to stay healthy in 2024 for the Vols to be at their best.

For now, the Vols don't have a clear No. 2 center behind Mays. It's critical that Tennessee identifies Mays' top backup -- not just for this season but also for the 2025 season (the Vols' starting center next season almost certainly won't come from the NCAA transfer portal, which makes it imperative that they find the answer this fall).

The good news for Tennessee is that it sounds like the program has several players are performing well during fall camp while taking reps at center.

"We got great competition," said Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee when asked on Monday about the depth behind Mays. "Vysen (Lang), Sat (William Satterwhite), probably are taking the most of those reps and competing. Sat has come along at a high rate. Vysen has improved in ton of areas. Max Anderson, (Jesse) Perry have also taken some center reps. You always have Dayne (Davis) if a bomb went off -- he did last year if he had to. But we’re [repping] a bunch of different guys and we're in day five of camp -- got two more weeks. Let the competition kind sort itself out."

This is a position battle that will likely continue to shake out as the season progresses. But for now, it's at least a good sign that Elarbee appears to be happy with the competition behind Mays.

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