Joey Halzle reveals what makes Joe Milton tick, how he's developing as starting QB

Joe Milton heads into the 2023 season as Tennessee‘s presumed starting quarterback. Before the Vols take the field for their season opener in September, the dual-threat QB is looking comfortable on the field and has some work to do with the game’s mental aspect.

“It’s okay not to know, you’re going to miss throws. Let’s figure out why. You don’t have to be perfect” Tennessee quarterback coach Joey Halzle told VolQuest about Milton’s development. “Joe is a perfectionist, which is not a bad trait for a quarterback wanting to do it well.

“But when you’re getting to the point where you’re mad when you miss a throw or you’re pissed off when you miss a read, it’s like instead of going that way with it, let’s just watch it later today [on 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.

With five years of college football now under his belt, including two in Knoxville, Volquest’s Brent Hubbs sees this sixth campaign as a comfortable space for him to be.

Hubbs addressed that point with JD PicKell on On3 Roundtable. He said a third-year within Josh Heupel’s offense should make Milton feel right at home on the field next season. Add in some weight loss as well as the lessons he learned from Tennessee’s former starter and Hubbs believes he should be in for a big year on Rocky Top.

“Well, he should be completely comfortable in an offense for the first time. You know, you look at where he has bounced around? He’s in the same system now for the third straight year,” Hubbs said. “I think that’s going to be — should pay huge dividends for him.”

“He’s 10 pounds lighter,” added Hubbs. “(And) I think he learned a lot from Hendon Hooker in terms of how to work and what he needs to do.”

Hubbs’ main concern for Milton heading into this fall is his capability as a leader. That was an area where Hooker excelled as he created a buy-in effect across the roster. With his new level of confidence and relief, he says that that is the next area that Milton must conquer as Tennessee’s quarterback.

“This is a critical three months here for Joe Milton from a leadership standpoint. Hendon Hooker drug everybody into the complex,” Hubbs said. “There was an expectation that you were in the complex working because that’s where Hendon was going to be. The question is can Joe Milton create the same energy and the same mentality with this team this offseason that Hendon Hooker created? I think Joe is in a great spot mentally right now. But, you know, he’s got to go out and prove it. I think we all know that. But he has more confidence than he’s ever had coming out of that Clemson win.”

Of course, if the mental aspect of the game begins to take a turn for the worse, true freshman and five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava is waiting in the wings for his turn as QB1. The program is his for the taking, it’s just a matter of when, not if.

Iamaleava is the highest-rated quarterback recruit to commit to Tennessee since Peyton Manning, and the expectations for him to perform well right away are massive. No one would be surprised if the prodigy started for Josh Heupel’s squad at some point this season. His mantra for his entire true freshman season is to ‘be ready’ just in case anything were to happen to Milton or if he were to be benched.

Until then, it’s Milton’s show in Knoxville. Barring any major developments, it’s likely we’ll see Milton taking the first snap of the 2023 season when the Vols host Virginia inside Neyland Stadium for their season opener on Sept. 2.