Tennessee center Cooper Mays can come across as a gentle giant. Only the foolish, however, would believe he’s soft.
“Don’t mistake his kindness for weakness is what I always say about Cooper,” Mays’ mother, Melinda Mays, said with a chuckle about the middle child that is a big part of why the Vols are headed to the College Football Playoff.
Melinda has seen her son go from a mid-level recruit – at best – to one of the best centers in the nation. Why? Motivation. Pure and simple.
Cooper still has the following pinned on his social media account:
Melinda recently asked her son when he might drop that pinned post. The answer was simple, yet complicated at the same time.
“When I make it,” Cooper said without much explanation.
One would think Cooper has already made it. He’s proven countless people wrong already.
Unlike his older brother, Cade Mays, Cooper was always thought of as too small to be a dependable offensive lineman. He answered those doubts with a burning desire that has turned him into one of the key players on Tennessee’s football team, which will await its playoff fate when the College Football Playoff Committee announces the final rankings and the playoff bracket on Sunday.
Most projections have Coop and the Vols headed to Columbus to play Ohio State. That seems to be a certainty, but Cooper is still holding out hope for a playoff game in Neyland Stadium.
“It would definitely be a great thing for us and an advantage for us…But you don’t really bank on anything,” Cooper said of playing in Neyland Stadium. “I’ve hoped for that since I was one-year-old.”
Resurrecting Tennessee from the SEC ashes must be special for the Mays’ family. Cooper’s father, Kevin Mays, played football for Tennessee. So did his older brother, Cade Mays, who transferred to Tennessee from Georgia and now plays with the Carolina Panthers in the NFL.
“I’m not really one to take the position of it being us or being my son,” Melinda said of the joy that has come from her son’s unlikely journey. “But it’s magical to watch the smile on his face.”
That X message that keeps Cooper moving never leaves him, according to his mother. There will always be a constant reminder that Cooper wasn’t deemed good enough by most. Like a pebble in a boot, those that doubted him are never too far back in his mind.
“Cooper has had a rock in his shoe every single day,” Melinda said.
Mays probably wouldn’t have been a Vol had it not been for one of the more detested figures in recent Tennessee football history. For all the criticism levied at former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt, he saw something in Cooper when he was surely too small to play in the SEC.
“I vividly remember Coach Pruitt, when Cade was being recruited, Cooper was probably 240 pounds and Coach Pruitt said I don’t care how big you are, you’re a football player,” Melinda recalled. “There’s just a place on a football field for that kind of heart.”
That place is at the center of Tennessee’s offense. Cooper is in charge of helping redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava get in the correct play call. He’s in charge of making sure everyone on the Vols’ offensive line knows who to block. In other words, he’s handling much more than just blocking the man in front of him. Mays has done so well that the Vols are going to be a part of the inaugural, 12-team College Football Playoff. That’s pretty heady stuff.
“It’s putting yourself in position for everything that you work for in the offseason,” Mays said. “Obviously, my first time or any of our first time being in something like this, but really, really awesome. Really cool.”
One might wonder if Melinda was ever worried that her son didn’t have what it takes, that he might be too small and could even get hurt. After all, there were plenty of doubters among college football coaches and recruiting analysts.
“No, I never even gave that one thought,” Melinda said. “Even If you don’t have the measurables, I knew that Cooper had the innate ability to be great.”
Offensive linemen aren’t often called “kind.” However, Melinda is quick to point out that her son’s willingness to work with others and provide a positive influence were always evident, often times as notes on his report card when he was in elementary school.
“I always call him my sunshine because he just warms people around him and gives people light when they don’t even know they need it,” Melinda said.
That may be true. However, it’s still not the best idea to make Cooper mad. Opposing defensive linemen have learned as much.
