Joe Milton on Tennessee's offense: 'I've never scored so fast in my life'

If nothing else, Tennessee scored at a high level in 2022. The Volunteers led the nation in scoring with 46.1 points per game as their high-powered offense took off.

It’s easy to see why Joe Milton didn’t hesitate when asked about his favorite part of Josh Heupel’s offense.

“The most fun thing? Scoring,” Milton said at SEC Media Days. “I’ve never scored so fast in my life. So, I think scoring.”

Tennessee’s offense has reached new heights since Heupel took over in 2021. The Volunteers ranked second in the SEC with 39.3 points per game, and that came one year after Tennessee ranked 12th in the league with 21.5 points per contest under Jeremy Pruitt.

But last year, the Vols got even better as they blew past defenders en route to an 11-2 record. With Hendon Hooker at quarterback and speedy wide receiver Jalin Hyatt on the outside, Tennessee had its way in Heupel’s second season at the helm.

Hooker was a big part of that success, but Milton now has the keys to the sports car. After all, he and his rocket arm are coming off a solid dress rehearsal last year after Hooker suffered a torn ACL. Milton threw for 147 yards against Vanderbilt to end the regular season, and he followed that up with a big game in the Orange Bowl. He completed 19 of 28 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns to help lead Tennessee past Clemson 31-14.

It could be a sign of things to come as Tennessee looks to maintain that high speed. In fact, Milton expects as much even despite a new offensive coordinator coming in. Alex Golesh is now the head coach at USF and Heupel promoted Joey Halzle to OC in addition to his duties as the Volunteers’ quarterbacks coach.

When asked if there would be any changes to the scheme this year, Milton was abundantly clear with his response.

“Nope. It’s Coach Heupel’s offense,” Milton said. “So whatever he wants, it’s gonna get done that way. I don’t see it no different being a change of offensive coordinators. Coach (Halzle), he’s just a dude.

“And he got the guys in the quarterback room with us. Mitch and you know, Phillip, you know, those guys in the room with us and they were willing to help no matter what. So just being able to be on those three guys every day is a blessing.”

On3’s Jesse Simonton and Nick Kosko contributed to this report.