Playing tackle at Tennessee under third-year offensive line coach Glen Elarbee likely means being on the move at some point of your career.
Darnell Wright started at left tackle and Cade Mays on the right side in 2021, but Elarbee moved Wright to right tackle last spring as Mays was about to be drafted by the Carolina Panthers. Jeremiah "JJ" Crawford and Gerald Mincey split the starts at left tackle last season, but now they're working on the right side and opening the door for John Campbell Jr., who transfered into the program for his sixth and final season of eligibility after spending the past five years at Miami.
Campbell was an 11-game starter at left tackle for last year's Hurricanes.
"It's really similar to the process when Cade left," Elarbee said Tuesday in a news conference. "We had JJ and we brought in Mincey. Darnell had been in the offense, so it was easy for him to flip and let those guys see the left side and learn. Now, they're the ones who are flipping and rotating and trying to play some at right so John can play at left.
"That's where John played previously, so we're going to let him learn and see if he can get comfortable on the left side."
Tennessee held its fifth spring workout Tuesday and will practice again Thursday.
Elarbee is working with 16 scholarship linemen but is having to replace Wright and left guard Jerome Carvin. Wright and Carvin combined on 85 starts for the Volunteers, with Carvin not allowing a sack in 2021 and Wright not allowing one last year.
Wright actually didn't allow a sack in the last 19 games of his college career and has been projected as a first-round pick in next month's NFL draft.
"The first place you miss Darnell is just in that room with his attitude and leadership," Elarbee said. "He's one of my favorite players of all time."
Elarbee also misses Carvin's ability to not only excel at left guard but in also serving as the backup center to Cooper Mays. Finding the starting left guard and the backup center are two big objectives for Elarbee, whether it's one or two players having that role.
Redshirt freshman Addison Nichols, Tennessee's highest-rated signee in the 2022 cycle, and midyear enrollee Vysen Lang have been working in those spots.
"At the moment, it's all center for me," Nichols said Tuesday. "I'm just working it and making sure I've got it down, so when I get to the season, I can play both really well."
Mays is the unquestioned leader, according to Elarbee, of an offensive line room that also contains Dayne Davis in the tackle mix and with Javontez Spraggins, Ollie Lane, Jackson Lampley and Andrej Karic, a transfer from Texas, competing at guard. Spraggins has started at right guard the past two seasons.
"We're trying to piece it together," Elarbee said. "That's kind of what spring is."
Karic arrived in Knoxville after three years with the Longhorns and with three years of remaining eligibility. He has five career starts and played mostly tackle at Texas, but Elarbee said he worked at every position but center, adding, "his chance to help us immediately was at guard."
Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee senior center Cooper Mays is the leader of Glen Elarbee's offensive line room.Elarbee believes both Campbell and Karic are already looking the part of worthwhile additions.
"John is an older guy, and I love his intensity," Elarbee said. "He takes notes and cares about getting better. He's also seasoned, and it's really just about translating the plays from what they did to our verbiage and getting used to the tempo a little bit.
"Andrej is not as old as John, but he brings a motor and an edge. He's really athletic, and he helps the demeanor of the room in terms of going out and being physical. I've really been pleased with both of them."
Like Tennessee's other coaches who have spoken this spring to the media, Elarbee readily admits the increase in talent and experience compared to two years ago is noticeable on a daily basis.
"Where we are at this point in spring versus spring one or spring two in terms of knowledge and just playing the game of football -- it's pretty cool, and it's a lot of fun," he said. "It's kind of what you want it to be."
Commitment coming?
Tennessee is viewed by multiple recruiting services as the team to beat for Jake Merklinger, a four-star quarterback prospect from Savannah, Georgia. The 6-3, 195-pounder is the nation's No. 6 quarterback and the No. 55 overall recruit on the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the 2024 cycle.
Merklinger is scheduled to reveal his decision Thursday.
Baseball Vols reach 20
Tennessee's baseball team improved to 20-6 Tuesday with a 5-0 blanking of UNC Asheville at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Christian Scott broke a scoreless tie with a home run to right field in the fifth inning, while a Blake Burke solo shot to right in the sixth inning made it 2-0. Nine Vols pitchers wound up combining on a one-hitter.
Up next for No. 10 Tennessee is a Thursday-through-Saturday series at No. 1 LSU.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.