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First and last call lands Sam Pendleton in Orange

On3 imageby:Austin Price•about 14 hours•

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Tennessee picked up another transfer portal addition when Notre Dame transfer offensive lineman Sam Pendleton signed with the Vols early on Friday morning.

“Tennessee is one of those schools you know even through my recruiting process that I really had an eye on and coach Elarbee and coach Heupel have just been so awesome even through this whole process of me being the portal and you know Tennessee is one of those Blue Bloods in the south especially in the SEC just for those teams that is consistently a great ball team and just consistently just plays 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 to the area since he was a young child. He has yet to attend a game at Neyland Stadium, but has seen plenty on TV over the years. 


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

When Pendleton made the decision to leave Notre Dame, he put in a no contact notice for 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 such a great dude outside of ball. You know we really connected when I was in high school and I kinda kept up with what he was doing through social media. I never talked to him obviously but kept up with the program and he’s doing great things with the offensive line here. They were Joe Moore finalist this year and I mean 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 by where he grew up but he’s just got that Southern charm that you look for he’s just he’s an honest guy. We had multiple conversations yesterday and he’s been completely honest with me and been very transparent and it’s been very refreshing.”

Watch the full interview with Pendleton below.

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