Joey Halzle discusses how Tennessee QBs developed during injury-laden spring

Tennessee is getting a taste of what the unfortunate side of football season brings — in the offseason. The Vols have been having to compensate for multiple offensive injuries, and it had caused some panic inside Joey Halzle’s group to begin the offseason.

“Just work through your reads, don’t worry about anything. Work through, get to your check-downs, scramble, extend plays, go up and out, go get yardage. All of this is extremely beneficial,” Halzle, Tennessee’s QB coach, told VolQuest. “It might not feel that way. You might get frustrated because you aren’t on the same page with the guy that you’re used to going with.

“… All that stuff that you might not normally get in the spring, they got to do all that for a while in the spring and I told them that this will serve you all extremely well moving forward.”

For presumed starting quarterback Joe Milton, who he’s throwing to isn’t the problem — his mind is Milton’s biggest enemy. Halzle said that Milton is prone to putting himself down when he misses a read or doesn’t complete a pass. His message to his senior QB: You don’t have to be perfect. Instead of reacting negatively, just let it go, move and they’ll come back to it in film.

Halzle is trying to help Milton understand that he can still have that perfectionist mindset without having the thought process that could potentially harm the team. He’s calling on Milton to react to negative situations in a more beneficial way instead of showing his frustrations on the field.

Since arriving in Knoxville in 2020, Milton has passed for 1,346 yards and has a 12-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio entering his final season of eligibility. Before that, he played for Michigan from 2018-2020 before hitting the transfer portal and settling down at Tennessee.

After being forced into a starting role following Hooker‘s torn ACL, Milton helped lead the Vols to a 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. He completed 19 of his 28 attempts (67.9 percent) for 251 yards and three touchdowns.

Halzle said the same goes for freshman and five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava. As he transitions to the speed of the college game, learning patience in the pocket while maintaining a calm demeanor — regardless of the other 10 men in the huddle next to him — will serve him well as he transitions into his expected role as QB1 after next season.