Cooper Morgan Mays (born March 11, 2001) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

center. Mays previously played for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

Early years

Mays was born on March 11, 2001. He was born in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, but grew up on a farm in

Kingston, Tennessee Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States. This city is thirty-six miles southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. It had a population of 5,934 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 United States ce ...

. Mays attended Knoxville Catholic High School, where he played football. After being named an all-state player by the TSWA during his junior and senior years, Mays was rated as a four-star recruit and a consensus top-ten center in his class. Mays committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

over Auburn,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

College career

In his freshman year, Mays played in ten games for Tennessee and started two. Mays started eight games the following year despite an injury that caused him to miss six games during the year. In his junior year, Mays started all thirteen games of the season and helped the Tennessee offensive line be named a semifinalist for the

Joe Moore Award The Joe Moore Award is awarded annually to the best college football offensive line unit. The award is presented by the Joe Moore Foundation for Teamwork, and they state that "The Joe Moore Award for the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit will ...

and the Tennessee offense be ranked number one in the nation. Before the 2023 season, Mays was named on the preseason watchlist for the

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College Football Awards ...

. On August 9, Mays underwent surgery for a

hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...

. The procedure caused him to miss the first four games of the season; nevertheless, Mays started the final nine games and again was a part of the Tennessee offensive line that was named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award. Additionally, Mays was named a member of the second-team All- SEC team. Mays elected to use the extra year of eligibility granted by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

for the shortened 2020 season and return to Tennessee for a fifth year. Before the 2024 season started, Mays was named on the watchlist for the first and second All-SEC teams, the first and second All-American teams, along with the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that g ...

and the Rimington Trophy. Following the regular season, Mays was named to the first-team All-SEC team and became the first finalist for the Rimington Trophy in Tennessee football history. Additionally, Mays was named a first-team All-American.

Professional career

Personal life

Mays' brother, Cade Mays, played football at Tennessee with Cooper before becoming an offensive lineman in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. Mays' father, Kevin, also played football at Tennessee, playing from 1991 to 1994 and serving as captain of the team. Mays graduated with a degree in sports management in 2024.

References

External links

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Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Cooper 2001 births Living people Players of American football from Knoxville, Tennessee American football centers Tennessee Volunteers football players