What Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said about Nico Iamaleava starting at QB

Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle met with reporters Friday morning in Orlando, looking ahead to five-star freshman Nico Iamaleava making his first career start on Monday, when the Vols face Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Here’s everything Halzle said during his press conference:

Opening Statement

“Real quick before we go to questions, just, I know I can speak for the whole offense, really glad to be out here in the great city of Orlando. Obviously for a lot of us it’s very familiar. We spent a lot of time here and great to be back with the Citrus Bowl. I know we’re all agreed, it’s just a first-class organization all the way. Great bowl. Great experience. Absolutely top flight in this whole here, so we’re honored to be here. Proud to be a part of it and looking forward to going and playing in the great game on the first.”

What Tennessee has seen from Iowa’s defense on film, what makes it a different challenge

“They scheme well. There’s a very sound, solid, strong defense, top to bottom. You see a lot of physical play up front, especially from the the defensive line. The linebackers, they like to get physical, get their hands on people. And there’s a reason that their defensive numbers are the way they are. That’s why the numbers are the way they are.”

How they approach the game plan with Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava making his first career start

“It’s not a tune-up game for a starter. This is a kid making his first start against one of the best defenses on all of college football. But I don’t think you can go into it thinking differently. You gotta take what’s there. Whatever they’re presenting to us, you got to take advantage of it. You’re still going to have to push the ball down the field. You’re going to have to take check downs when they’re presented. We’ll have to run the football well. So football is still football at the end of the game. We gotta block well. We gotta tackle well. We gotta catch and throw. We gotta do all that type of stuff. So to do all of that, and then you’re inserting a freshman quarterback in on top of it where he’s just gotta manage the game. He’s gotta understand situational football, when to take the risk, when to not. All of that. When to scramble, when is a throwaway a good thing, when’s an incompletion is a positive. All of those type of thoughts for a young quarterback. I think what you see young guys when they’re making first start getting in trouble and sometime, now,  he doesn’t handle himself like a young guy, so really confident in that. I think he’s prepared well. I think he’s ready to go. So we’ll see what he’s got in the first (start).”

Joe Milton’s time at Tennessee and staying with the Vols and helping Nico Iamaleava prepare for the Citrus Bowl

“Man, what that guy has done for three years for us has been been awesome. Obviously to come in and go through what he did, getting injured and then, obviously, when he stepped in and started playing the way he did, sticking around and not only not being a negative draw on the team, but being a positive influence to it, waiting his time and then stepping in and getting as the full-time starter role. And now here as he’s leaving on his way out, doing everything he can to make sure that Nico is as prepared and ready to play, giving him insight. I can’t say enough positive things about that guy, man. He’s he’s been a great. What a VFL stands for. That’s what I can say about him. He he’s just, big-time guy. Good, good character. Great, great ball for us. And I think the Tennessee fans, they should be really appreciative of of his three years here at at the university.”

What stood out about Tennessee freshman running back Cam Seldon’s development over the course of the season 

“What’s been great to see about Cam is he was at a a school where he played everything in high school. He was playing quarterback, defensive end, running back, returning kicks, doing all that stuff. So it’s been great to see him turn into what I call an actual running back. Meaning, his understanding of protection, his understanding of I can’t just grab the ball and run really fast. I gotta let these guys up front set up blocks. Gotta pace things. I gotta press holds. I gotta do all that different kind of stuff. It’s been awesome to see him not just wanna be the big, athletic kid that wants to run fast, but embrace, OK, how do I become a complete and total back? So we have a ton of confidence going into this ball game that he’ll be able to step in and and perform at a high level. Now you you lose two guys that have extremely productive in the SEC for three years. I’m not gonna act like that’s just a plug and play all the time. But if there’s a young kid that can come in and handle it mentally and physically, it’s Cam.”

Dealing with roster attrition in college football this time of year and how Tennessee has tried to handle it while preparing for the bowl game

“I think on the front end a lot of it is just like, alright, who are we actually playing with? That’s what the big thing you’re getting to now in bowl games when you’re starting your game-week prep.

Plays are great, scheme is great, but the players matter more. So who are we actually playing with? And as you get down to it and you realize, okay, these are the guys we got. Now, how do we put these guys in the best position to go be successful? I think that’s the main thing in bowl season. What that has become is, with the opt outs and with the transfer portal with all that type of stuff, it’s like, who are our 11 that we’re rolling out there with? It’s like, okay, these are our guys now. Now let’s put them in the best position to be successful.”

Where he’s seen himself grow over his first year as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator

“I think last year at this point I was just trying to figure out the right way to go about everything. Just trying to figure out how do I work into this? And now as I feel, I’m more comfortable in it, obviously, after a full year of doing it. I have my routine. I know how I need to operate in a day-to-day to make sure I’m as prepared as I need to be on game day, give this team the best chance to go be successful. So it’s morphing from kind of just trying to figure it out, trying to make sure I just don’t screw something up to, okay, this is my routine. This is what I need to do to be successful. This is what I did to feel prepared on game day and really taking that step as far as the day to day of how I just operate with the team, with the staff, and then with the quarterback room still.”

Where Nico Iamaleava’s game has grown the most during his first year at Tennessee

“In his defensive recognition. He really dug into that. A lot of freshmen quarterbacks are just like, cool, teach me the plays and I’ll figure it out. He really wanted to dive into, alright,

how how do I judge a defense? What am I getting as far as tips? And how do I know when I’m getting pressure? When am I hot? When am I not? He really dug into that. Like I said at the beginning, not like most true freshmen handle themselves. He was big into that side of it. And then mechanically, he’s just, when someone comes in as highly touted as he was, a lot of times they feel like they’re finished products. He wasn’t. He wanted to come in and be like, alright, what do I need to do to take my physical game to the next level as well? So he came in, was completely open with tinkering with the mechanics, his lower body, all of that. And that’s why I think he’s made the growth that he has and that’s why I think that the guys out there with him have the confidence that he’ll go perform at a high level when he’s called upon.”

Having conversations with Nico Iamaleava about what kind of plays, routes and protections he’s most comfortable with

“That last week or the week before the first week of the bowl prep, treat it like a true game. We’ve got we’re ready to play when we break for Christmas. So we had the whole conversation, what are you most comfortable with on third downs? What are you comfortable with in the tight zone? What are you most comfortable with as your first normal-down calls. So all that’s been been talked about. You feel like you know, but until the guy has a full week of prep as the guy, I don’t even think they really know. You know what I mean? Like, they’re kinda following. Like, man, I actually am not comfortable with this. I actually am extremely comfortable with that. So as as we work through that together, I think that’s been a good working relationship. Obviously, as a freshman, not being on the scout team, but being as a two all year, you have a little bit better understanding. But until a guy goes through an entire prep as the guy, they don’t know themselves. Really don’t.”

What Squirrel White meant to this Tennessee offense this season and what’s ahead for him

“Squirrel, he’s just an explosive play waiting to happen. That’s been one of the biggest things for him is he’s got legit 10.4 track speed out there. So you pull guys like that in a bunch of grass and let them go run really fast. Cool stuff happens. So he’s been the guy that we can rely on to be on. Alright, we need to go try to take the top off of this right now, we need to go try to stretch the defense. Squirrel is a guy that can go out there and do it on any given down, any given snap. So he’s been a big crucial part of this offense.”

The challenges of tailoring the Tennessee game plan to Nico Iamaleava, compared to how it would be for Joe Milton

“I think it still starts with what defensively makes sense. That’s where it has to start. It can’t be like, well, we got a freshman quarterback, so we’re not gonna do this. I mean, you gotta be smart about the positions you put them in. You don’t wanna put them in any negative spots where you’re like, yeah, this might be a bad play, but let’s see if you can get us out of it. That’s not a thought process you go into with, but it still has to all start with what actually makes sense scheme wise, and then let’s start refining into what he’s most comfortable with.”