Vols are fired up over electric freshman quarterback Tayven Jackson

Tennessee is comfortable at quarterback for the 2022 season. Hendon Hooker is expected to put up massive numbers for the Vols. Behind him is Joe Milton, a talented and experienced backup. Not to be lost in the mix is true freshman Tayven Jackson.

Tayven Jackson is a four-star recruit from the Class of 2022. He’s immediately taken advantage of the opportunities provided to him, impressing the Tennessee coaching staff. Quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle explained why they’re so excited about Jackson and what he still needs to work on.

“For Tayven, he’s obviously an elite athlete,” Halzle said of Tayven Jackson. “It’s just fun to watch him do athletic things every day. Some things that you wouldn’t normally coach, he can do it and you’re like, ‘Oh wow, that’s pretty cool.'”

“It’s really for any young quarterback, the biggest thing—and I had a conversation on the field with the guys today—is just being able to reset. You make a bad play, you’re going to. It’s expected. You’re a true freshman. You miss a read, you miss a protection, you miss something like that, awesome. Reset and go play the next play. That’s the biggest thing with a young quarterback. You have to make sure that they’re not living in the past all the time, because they’re used to being the one that is the big dog.” 

What Tayven Jackson needs to emphasize

There are a couple of key things that Tayven Jackson needs to emphasize in his development. The first is learning how to watch and understand film. Then, he also needs to play and act like an upperclassman, not as a freshman.

“Two things with him. One, was his going from, ‘OK, I’m learning and I’m watching the teaching tape and all the intro stuff,’ to really diving into the tape, ‘Alright, this is really like the intricacies of what we’re doing. This is how to really play in it.’ As opposed to just, ‘This is what the play is.'”

“That was the biggest challenge we had for him, was make sure you can come out on August 1 and operate like an upperclassman. That’s what the challenge was for him.”

Joey Halzle also explained that Tayven Jackson has already shown improvement, which is exciting for everyone around the Tennessee program.

“We’ve seen that growth from spring,” Halzle said. “Obviously, he’s still young and he’s still got areas that he needs to grow in, but he’s doing more and more of the, ‘Alright, I’m going to see it. I’m going to cut it loose. I’m going to go play fast.’ That’s been the biggest thing for him.”