Halzle on Nico, per Wes Rucker

[chattavol420]

It isn’t JG’s fault. He has no protection. He can take a beating like no other. Tough as nails.

Same diatribe.

Yep. The line can’t block. Receivers don’t get open. Blah blah. Funny how it was all the same personnel that had put up massive production the year before with Dobbs.
The similarities just go on and on. Milton was absolutely horrendous to start. Heupel’s tenure here. We weren’t putting up many points and we actually lost to a terrible pit team. Yet as soon as Hooker comes into the game… We have one of the most dynamic offenses in America.
It all begins and ends with QB. If your offense is good… Your QB is good. If your QB is bad… Your offense is bad.

 

[chattavol420]

Does heupel not ever get tired of defending the same player? It was the same thing three years ago for the first few weeks of the season. Why can’t we score points? Why can’t we hit open receivers? It was the same old BS from heupel’s. It takes the whole team. The receivers have to make plays.
Then hooker comes in on what happened? Why is this hard for such an intelligent guy?

 

[Doberman]

Does heupel not ever get tired of defending the same player? It was the same thing three years ago for the first few weeks of the season. Why can’t we score points? Why can’t we hit open receivers? It was the same old BS from heupel’s. It takes the whole team. The receivers have to make plays.
Then hooker comes in on what happened? Why is this hard for such an intelligent guy?

Also funny how Bru, Keyton, and Squirrel got plenty of separation when Hooker was QB. Because we’ve now moved on to blaming the WR’s now, too.

I guess they forgot how to play WR this year??

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I agree. And I think Nico will be good also.

My current issue is the playbook. Even with OL problems, I'm itching for quick chip block and release passes for the backs or pump fake the screen dump and catch a back or TE on a short route underneath.

I get the risk of a batted ball and pick but I feel we need to work in more passes to the middle to keep them from keying too much on the side screens.

The playbook just seems painfully limited and repetitive. I'm by no means Josh Heupel, of course, but I just want to "mini" open up the middle and see if it's there for us.

I have my issues with it as well. As much as I admire what CJH has done thus far and what I think he will do long term, I think Saturday was possibly his worst coaching job. I thought we tried to get a little too cute at times with some formations and taking Wright out of the backfield . I have thought and posted on here for a long time that I think we need to be a run heavy team this season. We have the horses in the backfield to help Milton. And Milton needs help. I think utilizing the tight ends in the middle of the field would open up things and just give Milton some easy throws to make. There’s nothing wrong for Castles or Warren to just go 8 yards and turn around . Hurry up and run for another 3-5 yards. The safeties start to come up and we hit a big one.

 

[Doberman]

I have my issues with it as well. As much as I admire what CJH has done thus far and what I think he will do long term, I think Saturday was possibly his worst coaching job. I thought we tried to get a little too cute at times with some formations and taking Wright out of the backfield . I have thought and posted on here for a long time that I think we need to be a run heavy team this season. We have the horses in the backfield to help Milton. And Milton needs help. I think utilizing the tight ends in the middle of the field would open up things and just give Milton some easy throws to make. There’s nothing wrong for Castles or Warren to just go 8 yards and turn around . Hurry up and run for another 3-5 yards. The safeties start to come up and we hit a big one.

Most worrisome to me is that the garbage we saw against Florida came on the heels of that trash performance against Austin Peay.

Makes me think they don’t have an answer, or sure haven’t found one yet. Clearly.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

But your comment sounds just like the things people said when defending JG. A good quarterback makes the entire team look better. Butch played Tyler Worley through the first half of Josh Dobbs freshman season until he was injured. It was the same narrative… Worley gives us the best chance to win (ie experience, playbook knowledge, etc). But the fans knew Worley didn’t have that it’s Factor.

Same thing here. To say well… Milton isn’t the ONLY reason we aren’t good says all you need to know. Your quarterback is either the reason you’re winning… Or the reason you’re losing. It’s that important of a position.

It’s almost like saying our basketball team is awful offensively. But it’s not the point guards fault. He shoots 35%. He doesn’t really have any assists and turns the ball over some. But he makes 1/3 shots so he’s not the reason we aren’t good?

Guess I just have more trust in Heupel currently than I did Lyle, Pruitt, or Dooley to make the call on replacing Milton at this point than many on here.

JG was at a different level of bad than I think I have ever seen play for UT at the position. Don't think Milton has approached that level of incompetence just yet.

Also have seen enough drops and mistakes from the O line to understand Milton isn't the only problem with this team right now.

Plugging Nico in doesn't immediately turn this team into an SEC contender IMO. I do think Heupel has a better handle on when that change needs to be made than any of the previous coaches given he played the position at a high level. Much more so than the glorified used car salesman, the gym coach, and the nepotism hire.

Main point of my previous post though is that I wouldn't expect Heupel, Halzle or any of the staff to start dressing down guys to the press.

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

I remember Fulmer commenting after the 6-3 loss to Alabama that the Vols really improved on offense

I was at that game unfortunately lmao

 

[jarnol32]

Well he is not wrong..... Milton graded the highest of any player this past weekend. People really hate the guy so much that they will overlook the defense giving up a million 3rd and longs in the first half.

Ignorant fans always blame the quarterback… The fact that nico was so highly rated stirs up even more ignorance.

 

[VolMarine1371]

So it was Hookers fault?

It was Hookers fault that we won. You’re absolutely right.

 

[Boone&Crockett]

Nico is not ready, wont see him unless Joe just completely implodes or gets injured, all we can do is hope something clicks with everyone.

 

[VOLnMiami]

Well he is not wrong..... Milton graded the highest of any player this past weekend. People really hate the guy so much that they will overlook the defense giving up a million 3rd and longs in the first half.

BINGO!...So many of our so called fans want him to fail so badly...Joe has done what his coaches have asked of him...He can't help if the recievers don't catch the ball or the o-line isn't blocking for him or the RB's...He hasn't been perfect but no QB is, He's played fine...I wish these people actually watched the games instead of just thinking they know what is going on...It's gotten stupid.

 

[Tnphil]

Joe is playing because he gives UT the best chance of winning,....and....he's pretty much all we got right now. Nico is not ready and will be seen only in mop up duty or Milton injury. He's just not ready. The receivers and Milton need all the reps together they can get....And we hope we can get some linemen back.

 

[njvols]

Well he is not wrong..... Milton graded the highest of any player this past weekend. People really hate the guy so much that they will overlook the defense giving up a million 3rd and longs in the first half.

Correct...we eliminate pre snap penalties, self inflicted wounds and such that got us behind the chains and get off the field on 3rd down, and not bumping into running backs as a form of tackling on long runs, etc....would have been a much closer game.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I have my issues with it as well. As much as I admire what CJH has done thus far and what I think he will do long term, I think Saturday was possibly his worst coaching job. I thought we tried to get a little too cute at times with some formations and taking Wright out of the backfield . I have thought and posted on here for a long time that I think we need to be a run heavy team this season. We have the horses in the backfield to help Milton. And Milton needs help. I think utilizing the tight ends in the middle of the field would open up things and just give Milton some easy throws to make. There’s nothing wrong for Castles or Warren to just go 8 yards and turn around . Hurry up and run for another 3-5 yards. The safeties start to come up and we hit a big one.

As much as I love the excitement of the deep ball, we need to take what's there. What's odd to me is that "taking what the defense gives" is the core of what Heupel does.

I've been impressed with Castles. He's a big kid, isn't afraid of a hit and drives after contact. I'm not in a position to judge his hands and I'm sure catching Joe unloading it under pressure is a challenging experience, but I'd try to work in more touches for him.

And the tempo, as you say, get a little pass, even the screens I'm tired of, and have a run play ready to put the D on their heels. I'm with everyone else that staring at the sidelines is not helping my confidence nor my blood pressure. I know it was loud in the Swamp but Joe should have a helmet transmitter....... cover your ear holes and get a play going ASAP.

I really hope Cooper gets back, Mincey gets his butt chewed enough that he puts down the pipe, and that we can get the real OL some good reps together before USClite gets to town.

 

[JRich]

I agree with the overall thought, but this is a lot of “coach speak” to say one isn’t going to be better than the other.

 

[TNVOLFN]

Milton is one of many glaring issues on this offense at the moment, but Halzle can't expect anyone who has watched the three games worth of tape this season, to believe that what they watched was a 6th year senior QB, in his third season under Heupel, "operating at a really high level".

This is fair. What I see is a QB that is uncomfortable at the position. The young one looks very natural at the position and, while he probably won’t have better results this year, his upside is tremendous.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

As much as I love the excitement of the deep ball, we need to take what's there. What's odd to me is that "taking what the defense gives" is the core of what Heupel does.

I've been impressed with Castles. He's a big kid, isn't afraid of a hit and drives after contact. I'm not in a position to judge his hands and I'm sure catching Joe unloading it under pressure is a challenging experience, but I'd try to work in more touches for him.

And the tempo, as you say, get a little pass, even the screens I'm tired of, and have a run play ready to put the D on their heels. I'm with everyone else that staring at the sidelines is not helping my confidence nor my blood pressure. I know it was loud in the Swamp but Joe should have a helmet transmitter....... cover your ear holes and get a play going ASAP.

I really hope Cooper gets back, Mincey gets his butt chewed enough that he puts down the pipe, and that we can get the real OL some good reps together before USClite gets to town.

Not trying to go all Butch here, but Milton had never played in a true road game. Technically he did during the Covid season, but that isn’t real. Lane has been playing center for about 6 weeks and one of our tackles has off the field stuff going on. You combine that with a defense that can’t get off the field on 3rd down and a crowd that is craving a big win and that’s a recipe for the result we saw. Is it acceptable? Hell no. Absolutely not. Can I buy us not handling it well on offense? Yes I can. Which I think enforces the idea of running the football and tackling. Running the ball and defense always travels.

 

[jasonvol18]

View attachment 580599

If he honestly believes that, then he's got no business being an OC at this level. My guess is it's coach speak. Nobody has any idea how it would or would not improve under Nico. Just like Dobb's was a better gameday QB and not so much at practice. Who says Nico isn't the same?

 

[chattavol420]

Guess I just have more trust in Heupel currently than I did Lyle, Pruitt, or Dooley to make the call on replacing Milton at this point than many on here.

JG was at a different level of bad than I think I have ever seen play for UT at the position. Don't think Milton has approached that level of incompetence just yet.

Also have seen enough drops and mistakes from the O line to understand Milton isn't the only problem with this team right now.

Plugging Nico in doesn't immediately turn this team into an SEC contender IMO. I do think Heupel has a better handle on when that change needs to be made than any of the previous coaches given he played the position at a high level. Much more so than the glorified used car salesman, the gym coach, and the nepotism hire.

Main point of my previous post though is that I wouldn't expect Heupel, Halzle or any of the staff to start dressing down guys to the press.

Yeah, I completely agree on having all the trust in the world in Heupel. He realizes what we see in that Milton isn’t in command. I don’t think plugging Niko in makes us a contender for anything significant this year. But, I also don’t think any quarterback is going to make us a contender for anything significant this year. So my point is really if there’s nothing significant, we are going to achieve this year… Why not get Nico as much playing time as possible?

Regardless, Heupel is definitely the smartest and most capable coach we’ve had in years. But coaches have to make 1 million decisions and he has unfortunately made a miscalculation on Milton. He essentially had two full seasons to get hookers replacement ready. He felt that with enough time and tutelage, he could turn Milton into a stud. Milton might be the first quarterback he’s ever been unable to turn into a great QB.

Unfortunately, we are going to suffer the consequences of that miscalculation this year. That’s just part of the process. We have a great coach, and the talent should steadily increase over the next couple of years.

 

[MiramarVol]

A coach on the staff obviously knows more than we do.

 

[lifeisdeep]

He's an idiot if he really thinks that.

I think the word you’re looking for is jackass.

 

[Brandon88]

I say what i think and Joe Milton is not a good QB.This is why Jim didn't want him at Michigan he saw Joe wasn't a good QB.He makes bad decisions and he is not accurate.I could go on.Joey thinks this dude is special why cause he has a cannon for an arm?I don't know why Milton will not run much when the pocket breaks down.He's built like Cam Newton thats all same size.Even with a crap offensive line they can be better calls to be made like QB roll outs, rpos, and ect can't the dude pass on the run? You can tell Tennesse lost a good Offensive coordinater last year.Why not play both QBs with plays that they prefer and are good at simply alternate them during the game.Plus this gets Nico game playing experence.Plus change players on the offensive line Wes Rucker had a good topic about this.It will be a long year for vol fans.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Not trying to go all Butch here, but Milton had never played in a true road game. Technically he did during the Covid season, but that isn’t real. Lane has been playing center for about 6 weeks and one of our tackles has off the field stuff going on. You combine that with a defense that can’t get off the field on 3rd down and a crowd that is craving a big win and that’s a recipe for the result we saw. Is it acceptable? Hell no. Absolutely not. Can I buy us not handling it well on offense? Yes I can. Which I think enforces the idea of running the football and tackling. Running the ball and defense always travels.

I'm very sympathetic toward Lane because he's not doing anything but giving it his best and would give anything, I'm sure, to be meeting the challenge better than he is. I can't imagine he's enjoying this.

Despite having strong feelings that the govt has better things to do than babysit the public while citizens do dumb things that might or might not hurt only themselves, I've little sympathy for Mincey. Apparently he's been flaunting team rules and needs to reevaluate his commitment. I hope Coach Elarbee is right up in his face all week.

The jump on 4th down. The lack of fundamentals, like tackling with your arms and not hip checks, like being aggressive in doing your job, not just in running your mouth. The failures I've seen this season would be enough for me, were I Josh Heupel, to have the defensive coaches in the office for a chat. Fundamentals. It's Division 1 Football. It's the SEC. There are expectations.

Heupel looked damn uncomfortable and that's a good start. I hope it's an uncomfortable week of practice for everyone. And I hope we take out every bit of our frustration on UTSA. Okay, let's save a little for the Gamecocks.

 

[LWSVOL]

I say what i think and Joe Milton is not a good QB.This is why Jim didn't want him at Michigan he saw Joe wasn't a good QB.He makes bad decisions and he is not accurate.I could go on.Joey thinks this dude is special why cause he has a cannon for an arm?I don't know why Milton will not run much when the pocket breaks down.He's built like Cam Newton thats all same size.Even with a crap offensive line they can be better calls to be made like QB roll outs, rpos, and ect can't the dude pass on the run? You can tell Tennesse lost a good Offensive coordinater last year.Why not play both QBs with plays that they prefer and are good at simply alternate them during the game.Plus this gets Nico game playing experence.Plus change players on the offensive line Wes Rucker had a good topic about this.It will be a long year for vol fans.

Basically, it's based on his grading in the game. There is a long list of how they grade QBs and play execution is just one of them. Incomplete passes could be fault of the QB or the WR.

They graded him high Saturday based on Thier comments.

 

[CrazyUncleVol]

Basically, it's based on his grading in the game. There is a long list of how they grade QBs and play execution is just one of them. Incomplete passes could be fault of the QB or the WR.

They graded him high Saturday based on Thier comments.

Stat sheet looked decent. Did seem uncertain at times, but I've heard some or most of that may have been coaches fault. I personally do not think Nico would improve our chances at this point. Even Peyton wasn't ready yet. If we drop some more, then why not play Nico!?!