Vols' twins toe the line

The Sullins twins and Jacques McClendon talk about sibling rivalries

Back in the summer of 1987, Neva Sullins was pregnant. Very pregnant.

Six months in, her friends thought she looked ready to give birth. No, she had three long, hot months to go.

She had a good reason to have a big tummy. She was carrying not one but two future University of Tennessee offensive linemen.

Cody and Cory Sullins celebrated their 22nd birthday last Friday. They did so side by side on the practice field.

With a jersey on, the task of telling the identical twins apart becomes doable. Cody is No. 66 and lines up at center. Cory is No. 69 and plays guard.

Take off the jersey, however, and it's tricky.

"I mix 'em up all the time,'' said first-year offensive line coach James Cregg. "I'm still trying to figure 'em out.

"I can tell now by the facial hair which one is who.''

Said Cory, "He (Cody) blows a lot of calls and I get blamed for that.''

Said Cody: "If he (Cory) had a rough day at practice, you think, 'What's the coach yelling at me for?' ''

Cody is battling Josh McNeil for the starting job at center. Cory works at guard with the No. 2 offense.

"They're great, hard-working kids,'' Cregg said. "They're logger types. They show up and work every day, just grind.

"They always ask, 'Can I do more?' They always want to do more and they never complain about anything.''

If they do complain it's most likely about each other.

"They argue like crazy,'' said fellow lineman Jacques McClendon. "We'll check off to some play and they'll argue for a good 10 minutes about it. We all make fun of 'em.''

The brothers admit they put their parents through some harrowing times with typical fraternal bickering. The conflict sometimes turned physical, to the detriment of the Sullins home.

"We got pretty good at drywalling,'' Neva Sullins said. "We still have windows with cracks. And holes in the ceiling.

"There was competition for everything, getting in the car, getting to the dinner table first. Grades.

"They fuss a lot but they're still pretty close.''

The Sullins brothers have been teammates on various sports teams as long as they can remember.

"I've coached 'em from 5 years old until they went in middle school,'' said Eddie Sullins, their father.

"They kept us on the go. I'd get off work and we'd be on a field somewhere.''

They played baseball and football together at White House in Middle Tennessee.

Both got offers in football from Division I-AA schools like Wofford and Austin Peay - "We were smaller then,'' Cody said.

But they visited UT and were encouraged to walk on. That was what they wanted to hear.

"We didn't want to sell ourselves short,'' Cory said. "And we could afford the walk-on thing.''

They redshirted in 2005 and were scout-team members in 2006. Cody played in three games in 2007 and made the travel squad.

Both got into two games last fall, playing together against UAB and Mississippi State. And both have been placed on scholarship — Cory just last week.

They walked across the stage together last December, receiving B.A. degrees in finance. Both have been three-time All-SEC Academic honorees.

In short, they've come a long way from the days when they were color-coded kids. Cody wore blue and Cory red.

Now they're both orange-clad grad students hoping to get on the field this fall in what will likely be their final season of being teammates.

"I always had high expectations,'' said Cody. "I thought if I came in here and worked hard things would work out for me.''

"It's been a blast,'' said Cory. "The experience and friends we take away from here has been great.''

Said Cody, "Living the dream.''

For once he got no argument from his brother.

Mike Strange my be reached at 865-342-6276.