Tennessee football has named its starting quarterback to begin the 2025 season, but who will be snapping him the ball is still unclear. With both Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton and redshirt freshman William Satterwhite competing for the job, head coach Josh Heupel didn’t want to call the race just under two weeks before the season gets underway. Instead, he complimented both options and kept it open-ended.
“Both of those guys have competed really, grown here during the course of our practices,” Heupel said. “Still a competition. You’re going to need both of them as we get through the fall, too.”
Whichever option wins, it’ll be an inexperienced player delivering the ball to Joey Aguilar. Pendleton has far more game reps as a starting guard for Notre Dame, but didn’t snap outside of practices while with the Irish. Satterwhite became a full-time center a year ago when he got to college, but he was behind Cooper Mays on the depth chart as a true freshman.
While experience can certainly help, Heupel made sure to note it wouldn’t be the deciding factor in who wins the job at the start of fall camp. He’s just looking for the best option at the moment for the team.
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“I don’t think I ever solely look at the experience of the player,” Heupel said. “Otherwise, you know, your young guys are never going to get an opportunity to get any experience. The ability to communicate at a really high level, get all five guys on the same page, pass protection, run game, the ability to snap it accurately and efficiently, the ability to play with fundamentals and technique. End of the day, offensive line, your center, but you got to get the best five guys on the field that are going to go operate as one. And that’s what you got an opportunity to do. We got competition and I’m looking forward to see that unfold as we get started.”
Even if Pendleton doesn’t earn the role as starting center, there’s still a chance he could be a starter on the line. With his experience at the guard position, he could always just slide out a spot and return to where he formerly played. The guard spot that feels locked up at the moment is the one owned by Arizona transfer Wendell Moe Jr., but the other may be up for grabs.
If Pendelton does get named the starting center, there are a few options for that open guard spot. The two most likely avenues are going with Sham Umarov or Jesse Perry. Umarov will be a redshirt sophomore this year, while Perry is going to be a redshirt freshman. Both have spent their entire careers at UT.
On the outside of the line, the two spots are locked up. It’ll be Lance Heard at left tackle and David Sanders Jr. at right tackle.
