Winston Salem, North Carolina area offensive lineman Sam Pendleton continues to add more traction in recruiting. The big and burley lineman was in Knoxville over the weekend where he picked up an offer from Tennessee.
"It was great to have an opportunity to come down and talk to coach Elarbee and coach Huepel in person," Pendleton said. "Come see everything. It was my first time on campus to be honest and overall it was really good."
Coming in, Pendleton didn't know a great deal about Tennessee, but he did know that the Vols have gained some momentum under Josh Heupel and staff.
"I knew they had a new coaching staff and I knew they were an up and coming program," Pendleton said. "Especially offensively and I was impressed with how they run things and how smooth it was. They were honest with me and any questions I had they answered them."
Pendleton really hit it off with Elarbee as those two have started to have more and more dialogue in the recruiting process.
"Coach Elarbee is a great person and a great coach," Pendleton said. "He's very studied. He's a great person to talk film with. I got a chance to go over some of my film with him and some of the things he liked and some of the things he would like to fix. Overall he's just a really great coach and person."
Elarbee was able to spend a good amount of time with Pendleton on Saturday after dropping by his school last week. That's when he delivered the news to Pendleton's coach that Tennessee was offering the talented lineman. The two were able to go over his game and highlight the positives and also work on improving the overall game. The honesty was something that Pendleton appreciated.
"I feel like it's really important to have someone in your life that does criticize," Pendleton said. "I liked it a lot that he took the liberty to do that. Usually at these junior days they don't want to mess with you any and they just want to bedazzle you. I liked that he was honest with me."
Now with that offer in place, Tennessee will work to be a longterm factor for Pendleton, who says he would love to get back to Rocky Top again soon.
"I want to get back over here for another visit," Pendleton said. "The atmosphere was great. People walking into the basketball game were great. I've been to Knoxville a few times, but just not football related. It's a great city."
Rivals.com ranks Pendleton as a 4-star offensive lineman in the class of 2023.
