Tennessee Football gets Notre Dame OL Sam Pendleton from Transfer Portal

On By Littum

Tennessee Football Landed Notre Dame Offensive Lineman Sam Pendletona late post in the transfer portal after the national title game.

On Friday, Pendleton announced his commitment to VOLS after a visit to UT Campus.

“What an amazing trip I’ve had in the last two years! As I enter this next chapter, I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been given,” posted Pendleton on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I want to thank Coach Heupel and his staff for being so welcoming. Let’s get to work! Go Vols!”

Pendlleton could compete to start at one of UT’s vacant security spaces or maybe be an option in the center, a position he practiced while he was at Notre Dame.

He started the first seven matches of the 2024 season on duty for Fighting of Irish and served as a backup in College Football Playoff.

Pendleton did not play in Notre Dame’s loss of 34-23 to Ohio State in the national title game on Monday. After the game, he went into the portal, which is open for five days after a player’s last match.

Pendleton joins the Arizona Transfer Wendell Moe, who was to compete to start at a guard.

Overall, VOLS has added four players from the portal. They also got the Duke back the star Thomas and Alabama Brede receives Amari Jefferson.

Transfer Portal Tracker Here is who is in who is looking for VOLS

How Sam Pendleton started on Notre Dame for a half season

Pendleton was a four-star recruits in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports Composite Ratings. He is from Lawsonville, North Carolina, located approx. 260 miles east of Knoxville, and he participated in UT’s Junior Day event as a recruit in January 2022.

Pendleton, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound, has three seasons with eligibility back.

In 2023 he played two matches as a beginner and took a red shirt. In 2024 he played 13 games, including half the season as a starter at the left guard.

In practice during the forecast, the pendant -plain starting job won over two veterans who had started the previous season. But in the middle season, the wounded Linemen returned to the field and the recurring starters had improved, pushing pendant -plain out of the starting lineup.

If Pendleton returned to Notre Dame next season, he would have been in a logjam on the depth card. But at UT, he immediately meets a need on an offensive line to replace as many as four starters.

Will Sam Pendleton start for Tennessee in 2025?

Pendleton and MOE should be among the front runners for the starting protection sites in spring practice, considering both started for Power Four Conference Schools in 2024.

Moe was a two-year-old starting in Arizona and he made the All-Pac-12 team in 2023. Pendleton played 15 games with seven starts over two seasons on Notre Dame. UT trainers could also explore Pendleton’s ability to play center.

But they get competition from offensive linemen signed and developed by UT.

Currently, UT has openings at both security spaces.

All-Sec Right Guard Javontez Spraggin’s exhausted his justification. Left Guard Andrej Karic also depleted his justification, but he appeals to NCAA for a medical exception to regain a season and return in 2025. And Backup -Guard Jackson Lample also depleted his justification.

Reserve Internal Offensive Lineman Vysen Long Transferred to Troy.

William Satterwhite, Max Anderson and Jesse Perry are among the possible replacements for All-Sec Center Cooper Mays. They were freshmen in 2024.

Start of left tackle lance heard returns. Five Star’s beginner David Sanders, the No. 1-ranked tackle in the 2025 class, will compete with young Linemen about the starting right tackle space.

Adam Sparks is Tennessee Football Beat Reporter. E -Mail [email protected]. X, formerly known as twitter@Adamsparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing to Knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Get the latest news and insight into SEC football by subscribing to SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered directly to your inbox.