Everything Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said during media day

Everything second-year offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said Tuesday afternoon during his Tennessee Football media day press conference, ahead of the start of training camp on Wednesday:

Where he feels his biggest area of growth was personally in his first year as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator 

“Yeah, I’ve been talking through that a lot this offseason. I think for us, with what we are as a tempo team, with using that as a weapon, using that as a short yardage, long yardage, red zone, all that type of weapon, for us to gain advantages, is making sure that you don’t get handcuffed to it. If you don’t feel like you’re in the right call based on the look that you have, let’s get ourselves in the right call. Let’s move the bodies where we need them to go and try to use that as the weapon to stay on the field instead of always just being straight handcuffed to the tempo, which is not something we’re ever going to go away from. But situationally, when does it make sense to, OK, let’s now move something, let’s get a different guy in the right spot. Let’s get the right matchup. Let’s go to that one right there.”

The importance of developing Tennessee’s young running backs 

“It’s huge for us. If you look, Dylan (Sampson) was one of our biggest weapons last year and he was the third back in the ball game. So we play a lot of backs here. You have to, in this league, especially now with it going to 17 games. If you go through them all, you’re not going to play one back 90% of the time and expect him to survive. So they got to come along. They’re doing a great job, they’re doing everything we need them to do. But now the pads are going to strap on here in a day or so and we’ll see what these young guys got. And we’re expecting them to come out and challenge for time on the field.”

Additions to the Tennessee offense through the transfer portal, like Lance Heard, Chris Brazzell II and Holden Staes

“Yeah, first thing they add is they’re all great kids. Like that’s the first thing coming in. They’re great guys in the building. Stick them in in Day 1 and, you know, whenever you bring in a transfer, there’s always a chance that there’s maybe some animosity on the team. Haven’t had any of that. So it’s a testament to them, who they are. And then also the guys we have in this building, and we saw it right from the jump in spring ball, is you bring in good players. The level of competition jumps up, the level of play jumps up at every position. It doesn’t matter where there’s nothing that substitutes for competition in the football locker room. So those guys coming in, being the right type of guys — competitive, smart, athletic — it’s been a huge upgrade to our roster.”

The biggest adjustment for transfer offensive tackle Lance Heard in the Tennessee offense

“He’s in a great spot. He does a great job. He’s a really hard worker, really smart kid. I just think for anybody, especially guys that are coming in from a different system, when we go fast it’s just different. It’s not better, it’s not worse, it’s just different. So just him going like, alright, I’m going through winter, I’m learning all of it. I got this dialed in and now on the first day, like, man, here it comes ripping at a hundred miles an hour. And he’s like, whoa. But that is the thing that also changes the quickest because it’s just an adjustment, that’s all it is. He knows what to do, he knows where he’s supposed to go, and that’ll be a huge part of campus getting even more and more comfortable within the system, within the tempo that he just lets that skillset that he has to take over.”

How Gaston Moore and Jake Merklinger fit in the Tennessee offense as backup quarterbacks 

“Starting with Gaston, he’s a guy that’s been winning the system for five years. So he’s a guy that knows it inside and out, from the run game to the RPO game, to the shot game, to anything that we’re doing. He can operate efficiently with the tempo. He’s a huge asset to us, which is, when he got in the portal at UCF, why we knew we wanted to bring him here because he just gives that stability, that understanding. And he’s a better athlete than people give him credit for. And he’s a guy that, arm strength wise, he can make every throw on the field. The guy can drive a football. You guys saw it in the spring game, he’s driving 40, 50 yard posts down the field right there, so athletically he can handle it. But mentally, man, the guy is extremely sharp and understands everything we’re trying to accomplish

“With Merk, he’s a kid coming in that one of my favorite things about him through the recruiting process was his competitive nature. When you go watch him play basketball or play football and that competitive nature, accompanied with his intelligence, allowed him to attack the offseason training on the board and in the playbook, the same way he would attack the football field. Which he has set himself up to challenge for playing time, which is hard to do in any system in any league for a freshman quarterback to step up and you feel like you could just roll him in there and he’s going to know how to call the play, he’s going put his eyes in the right spot. Is he going to have some growing pains? Absolutely. But he’s a guy that’s definitely got a chance to contribute as a freshman.”

What new Tennessee running backs coach De’Rail Sims brings to the table, what he’s like behind the scenes

“Coach Sims, highly, highly intelligent, especially when it comes to any kind of football scheme. Like if you have any kind of, hey, what about this type of free release stuff, what about this type of zone scheme outside, inside? He’s like, yeah, I ran that here, I know this, and he’s just going. So from that running back position, his knowledge of football is incredible. And he’s going to be a great asset to those guys. He’s super high energy. We haven’t gotten to the season yet, but I’ve always seen him positive in the way he pushes through anything. 

He walks in my office every morning, pops his head and says hello. He’s a great energy in the building that goes along with that high-end football intelligence. You put those two things together, he’s been a huge, huge asset for this group.”

Nico Iamaleava’s grasp of the Tennessee offense entering Year 2 

“Yeah, so that’s always the thing when you have a freshman coming in like he was last year and understanding that he was in that (backup) spot. It’s like, alright, how do we give this guy enough to go play well but not just absolutely burden him to the point where now he’s not playing fast, he’s not showing off his athleticism. So he got that version of the offense last year, excelled at it in a high, high way. Just watching that kid, spring scrimmages as he’d been here for two months, it’s like, man, this guy just gets it on the football side of the ball. Now getting to take this whole offseason and really dive into the intricacies of understanding. Why are we calling certain things in certain situations? Why are we doing things a certain way? Why are we switching on protection? He is blossoming in that and I think we’re going to see his play go to an even higher level, which is a scary thing to think about because his just natural ability to step on a football field and go play well is elite. Now he’s got to go do it with live bullets for 17 straight games next year. But we’re really excited about where he’s at mentally in this process.”

The development of Tennessee’s new tight ends during the offseason

“Yeah, all three of those guys and really the entire room, Coach (Alec) Ablen has done a great job getting everybody where they need to go. I’m really excited for this fall camp. Holden (Staes) and Miles (Kitselman) had a great spring, but they’d only been here for two months. So I’m looking for them to make that jump to even higher understanding, where now they can even cut it loose to an even higher degree. So I’m really, really excited about what the tight end room holds. Things that we can do differently with them this year and getting to really use that room room as a weapon. So I’m excited for that one to play out this fall camp.”

The quarterback transition from Joe Milton to Nico Iamaleava

“I guess we’ll kind of find out this season. For everything you think you know about a guy, until they become the guy for an extended period of time and they got one week to learn an install and go, you don’t really know him. I’m really excited about what he brings to the table. Joe had his own skillset and we catered to that. Nico’s got his own, you’re going to cater to that. So whatever that ends up looking like as we get rolling, it’s going to be actually fun to watch but really, really excited about what he can bring to the table this fall.”

Offensive numbers being down last season and where Tennessee needs to improve

“Our message to the guys has been, because there’s competition at every position right now,  we just want to see everyone come out there and just cut it loose. Like you have to cut it loose. That’s where the big plays come from. That’s what we lacked last year, the big play. And that’s going to be a part of what we do again this year. And it’s not for lack of taking the shots, but we just were a step off for whatever reason. And that has been our entire thing. If you go out there, cut it loose, whatever your job is on that particular play, let it rip at a hundred miles an hour and positive things are going to happen. And that’s our message to our entire team.”

What he has seen from Tennessee’s wide receivers, the depth at the position, freshmen Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley

“Once again, two guys that can mentally handle it right from the beginning, didn’t see a bunch of bus from those guys when they took the field in spring. And to them that’s, you know, like I keep saying they’ve been here for two months when they take that, that first step onto the field. So really excited about that, that they can just go out there and actually operate. Because that’s what keeps most freshmen off the field. It’s usually not talent. It’s usually not their ability to make a catch, make somebody miss, go run. It’s can they actually handle it and do the right thing at the right time. These guys have shown at this point that they can. And I mean you saw through the recruiting process that those guys are physically those special players. So they got a chance to come in and keep pushing this thing, which is why I think everyone kept talking about how good the wide receiver room looked this spring and it did. It’s a testament to what Coach (Kelsey) Pope has built in there. But competition’s the best thing that we can do to drive everybody forward. And when our guys know that in every class, every position all these guys can play well, I better be making plays when I go step on the field.”

Nico Iamaleava’s development since making his first Tennessee start in the Citrus Bowl

“My favorite thing was, for all the accolades he got after that game, where he wins the MVP and all the touchdowns and stuff, he first came out of it thinking like, man, I left so much on the field. And when you have a guy like that, that’s fun to coach because you don’t have to worry about trying to keep a guy humble. That’s just who he is. And he came in as soon as they were back, (saying) alright, I want watch it. How do I get better? How do I do this? He’s been working with our assistant coaches as far as understanding, alright, what calls are the centers making on these runs versus these looks versus these runs so I can put my eyes in the right spot to be able to make my RPO game what it needs to be like. He has absolutely attacked the knowledge side of this, which is not something that we force him to do, which is why it’s really exciting moving forward, that he’s got that kind of appetite, for one, to learn what this game is.”

What’s the next step in the development of Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson

“Dylan’s done a great job of understanding that his role changes this year. He’s a guy that was an explosive, explosive weapon for us. He was one of our biggest big-play guys. He understands that as the first guy on the field, now the rep count goes up. What he needed to do and he put on a bunch of weight this year in a positive way. Because knowing that the hits he’s going to take, all of that is going to change. He’s going to have more of them and he’s preparing himself starting in January to make sure that next January he’s still healthy, ready to go play.”

How the depth of the Tennessee wide receivers could change the group’s production this season

“That’s the biggest part. Like speed, athleticism, hands, it’s all huge, but you have to go make those one-on-one competitive plays in this this league. Everybody’s good. You’re going to have to go make those plays at the point of attack believing that you can go do it, believe that you’re the best player on the field. It’s a point that Coach Pope drives home all the time, just be a dog. When you step on the field, for everything else, it doesn’t matter. Go out there and take the ball away from people. And he’s built that into his room and you can see it by the way they’re going and playing. So I think, man, all through camp, we should see a bunch of fun stuff from these guys that should translate to a lot of big plays on Saturdays.”

How Tennessee receiver Bru McCoy attacked injury rehab during the offseason

“It’s absolutely insane what that kid did this offseason. Like for everything else, with everything going on as far as players that people are excited about, man, Bru McCoy, that ankle injury, we all saw it, but the fact that that kid is out there running full speed and making cuts and making catches and didn’t gain a bunch of weight, the guy still looks like a superhero when he walks around out here. It’s like, this guy’s absolutely insane. The way he went through that, it was like, alright, what’s my job? What am I supposed to do when I can’t run right now?  And he did that and the training staff was actually saying, hey bro, we got to pull you back a little bit. Like he’s pushing it over and over and over to try to get there as quickly as possible. The guy’s just an absolute animal in every aspect, whether it’s strength training, conditioning, his rehab, his football knowledge. He just attacks it all the same way, which is why he’s made this this comeback so quickly, which I don’t know if everyone thought he was going to be able to, but it’s special to watch.” 

The importance of Tennessee getting offensive tackle John Campbell back

“It was huge for us. The biggest thing with college football a lot of the time is timing, right? You don’t have long term contracts like the NFL and that we’ve got to time up. Bringing in a new quarterback with four offensive linemen that are returning is huge because now everything’s not on him. So bringing all those guys back was huge for us. John coming back, willing to play both sides (at tackle). It’s just a testament that he wants to go win a title, that’s why he came back. He wants to go win a title and he’s doing what he feels is best for the team.  For us to go win a title, and having those guys with who we got around them gives us a chance to go attack every Saturday.”