A closer look at new Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle

Josh Heupel had confidence in his Tennessee offense heading into the Capital One Orange Bowl against Clemson because of the coaches he had around him. Former offensive coordinator Alex Golesh, the new head coach at South Florida, had been gone for a month, but there was still more than enough familiarity surrounding Heupel. 

“For us as a staff, we go through that process every single week,” Heupel said in Miami before Tennessee’s 31-14 win over Clemson at Hard Rock Stadium. “We go through it on game day.”

“The fact that Joey (Halzle) and I have been together for 15-plus years, Glen (Elarbee) and I have been together I think for seven years, the communication on game day is seamless, and I’m excited for this one.”

Tennessee on Thursday announced that Halzle will replace Golesh, with the Vols’ quarterbacks coach being promoted to offensive coordinator. Heupel still has a hire to make at tight ends coach, the spot Golesh filled the last two years while working as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.

“Joey has been instrumental in our record-setting offensive success over the past two seasons,” Heupel said, “and he’s built great trust within our team. I have known Joey for over 15 years, and his track record of player development has impacted every place he has been. He has complete knowledge of our aggressive offensive identity and principles.

“Having played and coached at this level, he understands how to connect with players and will continue to make a significant impact in recruiting. This will be a seamless transition for him as we strive to build a championship program that Vol Nation is proud of.”  

In the Orange Bowl win, Joe Milton passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers and the Vols ran 38 times for 159 yards and a touchdown.

Joey Halzle’s coaching history following Josh Heupel

Halzle’s coaching career has mirrored Heupel’s since 2009. He started as an offensive quality control assistant at Oklahoma from 2009-11, when Heupel was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Sooners. 

Halzle was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma from 2012-14, then followed Heupel to Utah State as offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach. He had the same role at Missouri in 2016, when Heupel jumped into the SEC as Mizzou’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Halzle joined Heupel at UCF in 2019 as an offensive analyst and was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2020.

Halzle graduated from Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, Calif., before attending Golden West Junior College in California. He then went to Oklahoma, where he was on roster as a quarterback for the Sooners for three seasons, from 2006-08.

Halzle was a teammate of Sam Bradford at Oklahoma and during his coaching career has worked with Trevor Knight, Drew Lock and Dillon Gabriel.

Hendon Hooker had over 7,000 total yards, 68 TDs in two seasons at Tennessee

Over the last two seasons at Tennessee, Halzle helped turn Hendon Hooker into a Heisman Trophy candidate. He threw for 6,080 yards and 58 touchdowns and ran for 1,046 yards and 10 touchdowns in just 24 games with the Vols.

Moving forward, Halzle will oversee an open quarterback competition in the spring between Milton and five-star freshman Nico Iamaleava.

“We’ll have a quarterback competition this offseason and go from there,” Halzle said in Miami. “ … They all understand that. The conversation’s been had with all of them. They all understand that.”