Sam Pendleton signs with Tennessee

Tennessee picked up another transfer addition as Notre Dame transfer offensive lineman Sam Pendleton Signed with the Vols early Friday morning.

“Tennessee is one of those schools that you know, even through my recruiting process, that I really had my eye on, and Coach Elarbee and Coach Heupel have just been so great, even through this whole process of me being the portal and you know that Tennessee is one of those Blue Bloods in the South, especially in the SEC just for those teams that are consistently a great ball team and just consistently just play hard-nosed football. “

Pendleton grew up on a family farm not far from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. He played ball at Raegan High School just outside of Winston Salem. Ironically, he had family friends in Knoxville and has been in the area since he was a small child. He has yet to attend a game at Neyland Stadium, but has seen plenty on TV over the years. 

“Growing up was obviously down here, you know we have family friends and I was in and out of town,” Pendleton said. “I’ve never been to a Tennessee football game to be honest with you, but honestly growing up in the South you watch SEC football on Saturday and you watch the Vols play. It’s just something when you see those Neyland fireworks go off and you see how electric the stadium is when they play ball and it’s just something that everybody dreams about. “

When Pendleton made the decision to leave Notre Dame, he put a no-contact notice on teams. That meant he would call schools himself to see if they had interest, and Tennessee was his first and last call.

“Actually, they were the first call I made,” Pendleton said. “Coach Elarbee is just as great a guy off the ball. You know we really connected when I was in high school and I kind of kept up with what he was doing through social media. I’ve obviously never talked to him, but kept up with the program and he’s doing great things with the offensive line here. They were a Joe Moore finalist this year and I think they had an outstanding year. I believe in coach Heupel. He’s a really genuine guy. He’s one of those guys that he’s not a southerner, you know where he grew up, but he’s just got that southern charm that you’re looking for, he’s just he’s an honest guy. We had several conversations yesterday and he has been completely honest with me and very transparent and that has been very refreshing. “

Watch the full interview with Pendleton below.