Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Sam Pendleton has found his next college home. Pendleton announced his commitment to Tennessee, he revealed on Friday morning.
Pendleton's pledge to the Volunteers comes just two days after he entered the transfer portal. Following Notre Dame's College Football Playoff National Championship loss to Ohio State on Monday, Pendleton put his name into the portal on Wednesday. Due to the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish playing in the championship game, a special five-day transfer portal window opened for players on those teams following Monday's contest.
He played two seasons for head coach Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame in 2023 and 2024. He redshirted as a true freshman in 2023, and then appeared in 13 games, with seven starts, as a redshirt freshman in 2024.
Pendleton will now have three years to play at Tennessee under head coach Josh Heupel, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle, offensive line coach Glen Elarbee and the rest of the staff.
In somewhat of a surprise out of fall camp, the young, 6-foot-4, 310-pound Pendleton beat out veterans and earned the starting left guard spot for Notre Dame to begin the 2024 campaign. As mentioned, he started seven games in total for the Fighting Irish this season.
However, players like Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan eventually entered the starting lineup, and Billy Schrauth returned from injury, and things became a "numbers game" for the Notre Dame offensive line. Pendelton was the odd man out.
According to Pro Football Focus, Pendleton played 492 offensive snaps in 2024 and recorded an overall offensive grade of 63.2. He played 455 snaps at left guard and had 35 reps at right guard. He also recorded a pass-blocking grade of 66.2 and a run-blocking grade of 64.0. Pendleton also played 89 snaps on special teams.
He did play 34 offensive snaps in Notre Dame's first-round College Football Playoff game, a 27-17 win over Indiana, but did not play in the CFP games versus Georgia, Penn State and Ohio State.
As a true freshman in 2023, Pendleton appeared in two games, allowing him to redshirt.
Pendleton was a four-star offensive guard prospect out of Ronald Regan High School in North Carolina in the 2023 class.
He ranked as the No. 11 player in the state of North Carolina and the No. 20 offensive guard prospect in the 2023 cycle.
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The winter college football transfer portal window is scheduled to open on Dec. 9, 2024 for 20 days. Additionally, players have a 30-day window to transfer when their head coach leaves. There is also a five-day window for players to transfer after their team has finished postseason play. A 10-day transfer window will open on April 16 as well.
