Joey Halzle honest about Joe Milton's competitive approach

Joe Milton had to wait a little bit longer for his moment as Tennessee’s starting quarterback. After earning that spot to open in 2021, something called Hendon Hooker then happened in Knoxville and made that a very short-lived opportunity. Still, Milton put his head down, patiently worked, and is now in a position to be QB1 on Rocky Top again.

Even so, Volunteer OC Joey Halzle says that Milton hasn’t lost his edge when it comes to practice or competing for the spot. He says, if anything, he’s working as if it’s not even his yet, which is exactly how the senior should be approaching things. All in all, Halzle says Milton’s internal motivation has led to a very ‘dialed in’ version of the quarterback during spring practice.

“Joe knows he’s competing against himself. That’s been the switch he’s made,” Halzle said. “He doesn’t need something external motivating him. He’s motivated by himself, he’s tried to go out and be the best he is.”

“He knows he’s got one year of eligibility left and he’s trying to go take advantage of it,” said Halzle. “There’s no ‘laid back, I don’t have another old guy next to me’ or something like that. He’s competitive and he’s dialed in every single day when he takes the field.”

Milton has 1,346 passing yards and 12 touchdowns on just a 58.1% completion rate to his name at Tennessee. A lot of that production actually came last season when he was primarily a backup.

However, the latest look we got at him as a Vol is what has many so excited.

First, In Hooker’s place, he threw for 147 yards and a touchdown against Vanderbilt in a blowout win. After that, though, is where Milton really made his mark. In Tennessee’s bowl win over Clemson, Milton completed 67.9% of his passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns against the Tiger defense. That rightfully earned him Orange Bowl MVP in the process down in Miami.

However, it’s now back to work for Milton and the Volunteers for next season. He’s not missing a beat either as he prepares to take this team over. For him, it’d be easy to go through the motions considering where he now finds himself in the pecking order. That’s not the case, though. From what Halzle says, Milton is as locked and loaded as ever as he works towards the opener this fall.