Jacob Warren speaks to Joe Milton's maturity

After two years of being the backup for most of the season, Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton is getting his chance to run the Volunteers offense.

He had his first opportunity in 2021 when he earned the first two starts of the season. But Hendon Hooker took over as the start in Week 3 and held down the job until he tore his ACL at the end of last season.

Milton didn’t transfer when things didn’t go the way he hoped, and Tennessee tight end Jacob Warren said that has earned him respect.

“The one thing that built my respect for Joe the most was the fact that he stayed,” Warren said at SEC Media Days. “He had every — maybe not every right, but everyone could understand why he would leave, want to go play, because he’s obviously a great talent, a really big weapon for us. But the fact that he stayed, he just learned from Hendon and also helped Hendon out in a lot of different areas of the game, has truly showed me he’s committed to this place.”

In his two seasons with the Volunteers after transferring from Michigan, Milton has thrown for 1,346 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and zero interceptions on a 59.0% completion percentage.

Starting the Orange Bowl against Clemson, Milton was 19 of 28 for 251 yards and three touchdowns. He won the game’s MVP.

“He’s committed to being great here,” Warren said. “He really likes being here. He loves all the guys on the team. He’ll tell you that, too. He gets along super well with pretty much everybody on the team. Definitely super excited to see him take that leadership into this season and perform the way we all know he can.”

Milton was asked during SEC Media Days what he learned from Hooker over the last two seasons. He highlighted that Hooker acted like a big brother to Milton, and that was something he appreciated.

“Becoming a pro is one of ’em. I feel like that’s the main thing I could take from Hendon, is becoming a pro. Obviously he’s older than me. I never had no one that actually treated me like I would say a little brother. You know?” Milton said with a laugh.

“I never had nobody treat me like a little brother, and that’s what he did. I wouldn’t say it was under the wing because we was going head-to-head. It was a 1-2 punch no matter what. If he needed anything, I was there. If he came to the sideline about a play or coverage, I was there no matter what. It can be anything. I can be anybody. I was there to help first. I feel like that’s one thing that he led, contributed as a teammate and as a big brother. It was great.”