KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With classes underway and the season opener just eight days out, the Tennessee football program has officially shifted its focus from preseason camp to prep for its clash against Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Sept. 2.
Despite having to replace its offensive coordinator and starting quarterback from last season, leadership is in full supply with the likes of Joey Halzle and Joe Milton III stepping into bigger roles this year.
After serving as UT’s quarterbacks coach for the past two years, Halzle has added the title of offensive coordinator this season following Alex Golesh’s departure to become the head coach at South Florida.
While this will be Halzle’s first year serving as OC, he said the transition has been as smooth as possible, due in large part to the continuity and cohesion of the offensive staff under head coach Josh Heupel.
“As far as the game planning, I said it when I first took this role, we’ve all done that all together,” Halzle said. “That’s never just been one person’s show who says this is how we’re doing it. It’s extremely communal. The staff has been awesome around me. It’s been a great transition. It hasn’t been like drinking through a fire hose.”
While the move has gone well, Halzle did say there have been some adjustments and more responsibilities that come along with the job.
“There are more (responsibilities), as far as going into meeting time,” Halzle said. “I have to have everything prepped on the front end. I can’t just show up and take my notes, can’t just stare at my quarterback as we’re watching tape and seeing how that’s going. You got to see how everybody’s doing and make sure the whole thing hangs together perfectly.
“As far as an adjustment, also you got to talk a whole lot more. You got to talk the whole meeting … That’s the main part of it, the front end everything is on you to make sure it’s prepared so everybody else can have a smooth transition through their day.”
Something else that has helped make Halzle’s job easier is the leadership of Milton, the Vols’ redshirt senior quarterback who has taken the reigns as the undisputed leader of this year’s team.
“Playing that position is a huge part of having everyone bought into you as a person as opposed to just you as a player,” Halzle said of Milton’s growth as a leader. “As he’s gotten more comfortable here, more comfortable in his role, it’s really as his understanding of his offense has grown and grown where he’s not worried about that part of it. He’s been able to put some energy and put a lot of his energy towards bringing the next group of guys along and making sure he’s got that type of real relationship with his fellow team.”
While Milton acknowledges his importance as a team leader, he hasn’t let that affect who he is every day on and off the field.
“I am still a server. I may be the leader on the team, but I am still going to serve every day,” Milton said. “I still have to get the guys to understand the game plan and understand how I see it. I feel comfortable with the game plan, feel comfortable with the play book and feel comfortable playing right now in this offense.”
A full transcript as well as select player quotes from Thursday’s media availabilities can be seen below.
Offensive Coordinator/QBs Coach Joey Halzle
On the challenge of balancing carries for multiple running backs…
“All three of those guys and the two new freshmen we got are all playing at a really high level. Our job is to find creative ways to get them the ball and utilize their skill set. You’re exactly right though, hot hand, sometimes a guy gets rolling and you don’t take that guy out of the ballgame. The way we play with tempo and the number of snaps we’re going to get, just because you’re not the first guy on the field doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get the most carries that day. It’s rolling guys through, making sure everyone stays fresh and making sure that we always have a guy on the field that’s capable of being ready and going at that moment and not gassed out.”
On where he feels like they are at on the offensive line…
“Feel really good about how the offensive line is looking. There are guys that can rotate in and play a bunch of spots, and that’s what’s good about the guys we have is that guys can go in and out. We have guys that can play all three positions. It’s really helpful having that kind of utilization with the guys up front. I feel really good about the five guys we are going to roll out there with in a couple of weeks. I feel like we can put a good product on the field with them.”
On how long it took Joe Milton III to get comfortable with those mechanical adjustments…
“He’s the type of athlete that can feel his body, so he understood what we were trying to accomplish quickly. It was just making it the habit of how he throws, because individually you start building it, then you take it to routes on air, then seven-on-seven. Maybe it doesn’t look quite the same, and then you go back to indy (periods) and you push it. Over this offseason, it got incrementally better. It wasn’t like one day off, one day on. It was a growth throughout the whole thing where it was like, that’s how you throw now. It’s not like, ‘hey I have to try and do that,’ but rather just the way he throws now.”
On how often he sees Joe Milton III go back to his old mechanical form…
“You don’t really see it very often. Every once in a while, naturally playing football, you’re going to get yourself in a bad body position. It is what it is. There’s going to be a free rusher or someone busting on a route where his body is in a weird spot. We work on drills to get ourselves out of bad situations. Human nature takes over every once in a while and you miss with a mechanical function. For the most part, we are able to replicate really well and keep the same motion.”
On how McCallan Castles and Ethan Davis have improved in their physicality…
“It’s been great watching them from spring to fall camp. Cally (McCallan Castles) was just learning. He played in a system that was not going fast at all. His whole thing was not playing as fast as he could, because he was just learning what to do. Now that he’s dialed in on everything, that’s a big and strong dude that will come off the ball and hit you. It’s fun to watch him, he’ll strike people like an old-school fullback, but then he can run like a slot and be a matchup issue for safeties. Ethan, he lived that role of playing a lot of receiver coming out of high school. He has no fear of getting in there and mixing it up with people. He’ll put his face on people. It’s been good watching him. It’s very similar to Cally where you go from learning what to do: like what’s my step, am I getting the backside hand through and now all of the sudden a defensive end is running through you, to I know what to do and now I’ll come off and shoot my hands and put my face in there. He’s still got some growth to do in that area, but the best thing that you see with a young tight end that hasn’t done it a lot is that he’s not scared.”
On if the tempo of the offense has been an issue with Cooper Mays being out…
“No issues with that. That’s how we play, and everybody knows how we play. We play one type of way when we take the field. We are ready to roll.”
On Joe Milton III developing a larger leadership role and personal relationships with his teammates…
“I think it comes in a lot like when you come in mid-year like him, he wasn’t even in January, he was here in June. I think sometimes you have to be a little intrinsically focused, because you are just trying to learn and give yourself a chance to go get on the field where it almost feels you don’t have time to do that part of it. Playing that position is a huge part of having everyone bought into you as a person as opposed to just you as a player. As he’s gotten more comfortable here, more comfortable in his role, it’s really as his understanding of his offense has grown and grown where he’s not worried about that part of it. He’s been able to put some energy and put a lot of his energy towards bringing the next group of guys along and making sure he’s got that type of real relationship with his fellow team.”
On if he’s seen anything from the incoming players that indicates the wide receiver rotation will grow…
“We’ve got five or six guys we feel really comfortable rolling with. Keeping guys fresh, similar to my conversation with the running backs, roll guys through, let guys keep playing. We feel really confident with that whole core.”
On what it’s been like for him during fall camp as he transitions into being offensive coordinator…
“As far as the game planning, I said it when I first took this role, we’ve all done that all together. That’s never just been one person’s show who says this is how we’re doing it. It’s extremely communal. The staff has been awesome around me. It’s been a great transition. It hasn’t been like drinking through a fire hose. There are more (responsibilities), as far as going into meeting time. I have to have everything prepped on the front end. I can’t just show up and take my notes, can’t just stare at my quarterback as we’re watching tape and seeing how that’s going. You got to see how everybody’s doing and make sure the whole thing hangs together perfectly. As far as an adjustment, also you got to talk a whole lot more. You got to talk the whole meeting. I’m kind of done talking during the day. I’m not a big talker. That’s the main part of it, the front end everything is on you to make sure it’s prepared so everybody else can have a smooth transition through their day.”
On how you go about teaching players to play at the tempo Tennessee plays at…
“We show continuous tape. We call it ball mechanics, of how everything should operate between the snap. The biggest thing we have to drive home to our young guys or our transfers coming in is it’s not a fire drill out there with everyone running around crazy, all it is is efficiency between the snaps. Operate efficiently between the snaps and you’re going to be fine. If you’re all over the place between the snap, you’re going to have a hard time functioning. That’s boilerplate-based level on what it is to be able to play like we do.”
On if there was a time during the offseason Joe Milton III proved himself to be the guy this year…
“It’s really been since bowl prep last year when it was very clear at that point, with Hendon’s (Hooker) injury and everything, it was his team to take over. He didn’t shy away from it, but he also didn’t become fake and change the way he was. He was just him with a dedicated and new spirit about it. He just said, ‘alright, I’m responsible for this unit now and I got to make sure that it’s going the way it needs to go.’”
On the dynamic at the slot position…
“It’s been great. It’s very similar to what we talked about in the quarterback room. We have guys that actually support each other. Very similar again to the running back question. The way we play, there’s not a shortage of snaps to go around. There’s not a shortage of opportunities to catch balls. We don’t really get a lot of that back biting in the locker room. It’s a very amicable workspace for everybody. You go get yours, come off the field, I’ll go get mine. That’s kind of the mindset for a lot of our skillset guys.”
Redshirt Senior QB Joe Milton III
On his comfort level right now and how he feels in general…
“I feel great. I am still a server. I may be the leader on the team, but I am still going to serve every day. I still have to get the guys to understand the game plan and understand how I see it. I feel comfortable with the game plan, feel comfortable with the play book and feel comfortable playing right now in this offense. So, I feel great.”
On getting comfortable with mechanical changes this offseason…
“It took some time. You work at it every day. Some things just don’t happen overnight. The day that you forget about it is the day that it will mess up, so I try to work on it every day.”
On if he is happy with the progress the offense made in preseason…
“Absolutely. I preach to those guys, you have to get better every day. You want to treat these days that we have, like the mock game day week, as the game because as soon as game day comes it’s going to feel like practice.”
Sophomore RB Dylan Sampson
On where he feels comfortable right now compared to a year ago…
“Just having knowledge of the system. Playing more and more, everything is starting to mesh together like understanding the whys of what we’re doing. The time that I’ve spent in the system developing myself has made me more comfortable.”
On the backfield and what they bring to the offense…
“I think it’s the versatility and the drive to want to be the best. This whole running back room is talented from head to toe. Young guys are coming along and asking questions and they’re playing hard and physical. I think we are going to have three running backs that have experience. Going into this season, it’s great to have. You never know when you will need to lean on somebody. Playing with those guys every single day, we make each other better. I couldn’t ask to be a part of a better running back room.”
On how Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright have helped him become more comfortable…
“I think it started with last year. I came in ready and eager to learn by watching them. I’ve seen them grow in different ways. Jaylen has been more vocal. He’s always been energetic, but he’s taken more of that leadership role coming into this season. Jabari has been present and helping as he always does. I really feel like I took what they taught me last year and have been able to use it to develop myself and me being a leader on this team. We help each other out through our practices. They come to me and ask me what I see and what they think is wrong, and I ask them the same thing. We can only be as good as the best man.”
Sophomore WR Squirrel White
On the chemistry between the wide receiver room and Joe Milton III…
“I feel like our chemistry is very good on the field. This offseason, we really went out and threw a lot, hung out a lot and did other stuff like that. Our chemistry is very good.”
On where he feels like his game has improved…
“I became very comfortable this offense here in year two. As far as my game goes, I feel like I got bigger, stronger and faster. I feel like my route running is better and so is my understanding of the entire game.”
On if he remembers the bowl victory or is strictly looking forward to the future…
“I still think about it. That was a big game for me, but I’m pushing that to the side and am focused on the season ahead now.”