For Cooper Mays, he's dealt with older quarterbacks in his time at Tennessee.
From Hendon Hooker in 2021 and 2022 to Joe Milton III in 2023, the signal caller he's snapped the ball to has always had him beat in age.
That will change this season, though. As Mays enters his fifth collegiate season, he'll be paired up with redshirt freshman Nico Iamaleava at quarterback. This creates a four-year age gap between the Vols' center and quarterback.
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This hasn't gone unnoticed by Mays. What's stood out to him the most, though, is how it doesn't really feel like this is the case.
Due to Iamaleava's maturity, Mays doesn't feel like the age gap is much of a factor. The two bounce ideas off of each other and are working hard to ensure they're on the same page.
"I've kind of been thinking about it a little bit, it's kind of hard to think, though, because Nico is so mature for his age," Mays said. "He's a younger guy, but he doesn't act like that... I've had guys who weren't just mature, they were like 24, 25 years old. Older guys. It's been a little bit of an adjustment, just got to be really communicative. Kind of the whole offense in general but especially with me and the quarterback, got to talk a lot, kind of pick each other's brains. He tries to see how I'm seeing things, I try to see how he sees things. Just trying to get on the same page there, it's been cool."
What makes Iamaleava mature despite being just 19 years old?
He has just one start under his belt and had the country's full attention out of high school as the No. 2 player in the 2023 class. With a five-star ranking attached closely to his name, he came into the Vols' program with a humbleness about him that caught the attention of his teammates.
"Kind of his whole process here has just been eager to learn and humble," Mays said. "And maybe people don't think being humble is a mature leadership kind of thing. Everybody thinks a leader is somebody who is very boisterous and loud and always talking and everything. He's a guy that came in ready to learn and kind of soak up as much knowledge as he could from his peers and everything. I think that was a big first step and its kind of grown into him being a leader and still kind of having that aura about him and that humbleness and readiness to work and learn. That's a big thing that you can leave behind."
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This has formed a trust between the young quarterback and veteran center. Mays makes the protection calls up front but he's not afraid to let Iamaleava make adjustments.
There isn't any ego due to seniority by Mays. He'll let Iamaleava change what he thinks is necessary for the offense to run at the highest level possible.
"He even checks me on calls a little bit," Mays said. "I try to give him as much leeway as he wants. If he sees something, he can always change the protections and everything. He's taken advantage of that. He's done a good job seeing the whole field which is the problem coming out of high school for a lot of kids, it's hard to slow the game down and see the whole picture. He's done a good job of that."
The first test Iamaleava and the veteran front will be against Chattanooga on August 31. While the second-year quarterback is still largely inexperienced, he does have some experience to fall back on.
He was the starter in the Vols' Citrus Bowl win over Iowa to cap off the 2023 campaign. Mays saw the confidence Iamaleava had and the maturity that he's shown throughout this off-season's preparation.
"Not nervous or quiet, just who he was," Mays said on the bowl game. "He's not a naturally loud, screaming all the time kind of guy. He's very confident and you can tell that. And we believed in him fully so I think that helped him a lot, too."
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