Explaining why Joe Milton is not a 'system guy' for Tennessee

As Joe Milton replaces Hendon Hooker as the Tennessee Volunteers quarterback, On3’s JD PicKell is pleading with you not to label him a system guy.

Evidently, PicKell doesn’t want anyone to simplify Milton’s success if he balls out in Knoxville this season for Tennessee. On the latest episode of The Hard Count, PicKell explained his thought-process on the matter.

“Here’s another thing I want to talk about, staying in the lane of quarterbacks. Joe Milton, going to be the starting quarterback for Tennessee. We’ve known that for some time now. We saw him just do numbers, like he’s Good Will Hunting, in the Orange Bowl against Clemson. He’s going to be the guy,” started PicKell. “I want us to make sure that we’re all on guard against this thought when he starts rolling, if he does start putting up big numbers. People are going to be very quick to say, outside of Knoxville, ‘Joe Milton is a system guy. Joe Milton, he’s just a benefactor of what Josh Heupel’s drawn up with that offense. Yeah, That’s nice he’s putting up numbers, but he’s just a system guy.’ A couple things incorrect with that statement.

“The first is it doesn’t make sense. Like to call a quarterback a system guy. Every quarterback is in a system. Any offensive coordinator worth their salt is trying to put a favorable situation for their quarterback in 11-on-11 football. You’re trying to create matchups. You’re trying to make his life easier. You’re still going to ask a lot of him. But if you’re not putting your quarterback in position to succeed as an offensive coordinator, what are you doing man? What are we even drawing this up for during the week? What are we game-planning for? To make his life difficult? Don’t think so.”

Alas, while Heupel’s system may be quarterback-friendly, it’s still up to Milton to get the job done, and he deserves the credit for that if he’s able to.

“The other part of this is the offense for Josh Heupel goes through the quarterback. Like there’s kind of this narrative out there that it’s so quarterback friendly. You just line it up, plug and play. Put anyone in there and go ahead and slice and dice, you’ll be good to go. That’s not the reality,” added PicKell. “This system, yes it creates matchups. Yes, they work the boundaries a lot. Yes, they play with the hashes. 100%. But even so, this offense goes extremely quickly. High tempo. Meaning as a quarterback, you’ve got to be on it man. It is NASCAR fast. You’ve got to be quick. Good with getting everyone lined up. You’ve got to know the play-call and deliver the protection. You’ve got to do everything as the quarterback to make sure you’re all on the same page as we snap the ball in under 20 seconds.

“The other part, you’re asking the quarterback to make throws. … If you can’t hit the shot at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if we got it open for you. Doesn’t matter if we kind of tee’d the defense up. It’s about creating situations, but the quarterback has to make good on those situations.”

Regardless, plenty of eyes will be on Joe Milton and Tennessee, and if he reaches his potential, he’ll receive some immense praise for his work, like his predecessor did in Hendon Hooker.