Replacing Tennessee center Cooper Mays is about much more than just snapping the football.
Mays, who is sidelined due to an undisclosed injury, leaves a void, which means the Vols will be looking for a few good men – and leaders – to step up when the season begins on Sept. 2. Not only will Mays’ play be missed on the field, but his leadership will be as well. For now, Mays is limited to being a leader when he can, from the sideline during practice and in team meetings.
“He just kind of brings everybody together… he brings a leader on the field and somebody that we all look to lead and guide and make the calls and set it straight when things aren’t going right,” tight end Jacob Warren said Tuesday on The Vol Report.
Even though Mays won’t be calling line plays from center, Warren is certain Mays and his leadership skills will still be felt from the sidelines.
“When guys come off the field, he’ll know exactly what they did wrong and be able to tell them in an efficient way that will help lead and guide them and hopefully help them do better,” Warren said.
Hoping to fill Mays’ big shoes is senior left guard Ollie Lane. Warren sees Lane’s potential already as a sub for Mays.
“He’s got to make calls, make correct calls, stick with it, trust each other, lead the guys and be that guy that can push the tempo,” Warren said. “He’s more than capable. I’ve seen big steps in his confidence and his energy in practice really starting to settle.”
Now that preseason camp is essentially over, it’s time to prepare for game one against Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. What can we expect from the week before the opener? It’s all about nailing down your process, according to Warren.
“Next week is just a time to figure out how we as individuals handle a game week,” Warren said. “We’ll be doing practices that mimic what we’ll be doing for the actual game week. (We’ll) get an idea of how it feels on our bodies and what we need to do to prepare ourselves for the real thing.”
In camp, the focus was not on individual matchups but on the overall skills that will help the Vols beat any opponent this season.
Said Warren, “We’re working on the fundamentals. We’re working on our tempo and different plays we might run against whomever, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because we’re not playing them this Saturday. We will have time (to) prepare.”
It will be interesting to see how preseason prep translates into regular season success and how long the Vols will be without their starting center, who has mastered much more than snapping the football.
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How long is Cooper expected to be out? Anyone have any idea?